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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL BUDGET HEARINGS.
THE MAYOR'S 2022 PROPOSED BUDGET.
WE'LL BE MEETING WITH DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS SO THAT WE CAN ASK QUESTIONS PUBLICLY OR COUNCIL MEMBERS CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.
I'M GONNA READ OFF THE AGENDA FOR EVERYONE SO THAT WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT.
UH, OF COURSE WE'RE ALREADY CALLED TO ORDER TONIGHT.
WE'LL BE HAVING PRESENTATIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND THEN FOLLOWED BY THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
AND THEN OF COURSE THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT WILL FOLLOW RIGHT AFTER, UH, THEN WE'LL HAVE QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION, AND THEN IF ANYBODY SO CHOOSES, WE CAN ADJOURN OR WE CAN JUST STAY HERE ALL NIGHT.
SO IT'S ALL, IT DEPENDS ON EVERYBODY.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'LL CALL UP OUR FIRST, UH, PRESENTATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT.
I DON'T HAVE A PRESENTATION IF YOU WANT.
I KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, WELL, JIM'S TAKEN SHAUNA'S PLACE AS OUR SENIOR COUNCIL MEMBER FOR THE EVENING, BUT, UH, THE REST OF US ARE PRETTY NEW HERE.
SO IF YOU COULD JUST GIVE US A RUNDOWN OF YOUR DEPARTMENT AND, AND KIND OF A QUICK SYNOPSIS OF YOUR BUDGET AND WHERE YOU'RE HEADING WITH IT, THAT'D BE GREAT.
YEAH, WE, SO WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL CHANGES THAT ARE COMING UP, YOU KNOW, IN 2022, WE ARE TRYING TO CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE THAT'S PROVIDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT, UM, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, PLAN REVIEW.
AND SO WE ARE, YOU KNOW, MAKING A COMMITMENT TO, YOU KNOW, A GUARANTEE PLANE REVIEW PERIOD IN THE PERMIT OFFICE, UM, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THAT, YOU'LL SEE IT TOMORROW NIGHT, THERE'LL BE INTRODUCED FOR A PERMIT FEE INCREASE.
UM, IT'S NOT IN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET, BUT IT WILL.
UM, BUT IT IS GOING TO BE EFFECTIVE JANUARY ONE, IF, IF PASSED, UM, WE ARE ELIMINATING SOME POSITIONS AND, YOU KNOW, GOING WITH SOUTH CENTRAL PLANNING, UM, COMMISSION, UM, TO DO THAT PLAN REVIEW GUARANTEE THAT EXPEDITE EXPEDITED.
UM, AND SO WE WERE HAVING TO ELIMINATE SOME POSITIONS, BUT WE HONESTLY HAVE 25 VACANT POSITIONS IN DOD, UM, OUT OF 93.
AND, UH, WE HAVE QUITE A FEW BIG RETIREMENTS COMING UP SOON.
SO ALL OF OUR PERSONNEL ARE BEING RETAINED.
THEY ARE JUST BEING SHIFTED TO OTHER DUTIES IN ORDER TO, AGAIN, INCREASE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE PROVIDED BY DOD ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND TO POINT OUT TO, UM, SOUTH CENTRAL PLANNING IS ALSO, IT'S NOT A PRIVATE ENTITY, THEY'RE A GOVERNMENT ENTITY.
UM, SO THEY'RE ON THE STATE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
SO, UM, THEY'RE ALREADY RUNNING OUR PERMIT OFFICE AND WE'VE SEEN SOME GREAT SUCCESS, UM, WITH THEM BEING OUR, YOU KNOW, BUILDING OFFICIAL AND DEPUTY BUILDING OFFICIAL.
AND SO CONTINUING TO HAVE MORE GUIDANCE AND MORE OF THEIR INPUT, THAT'S WHAT THEY SPECIALIZE IN.
THEY DO THIS PLAN REVIEW AND PERMITTING IN MULTIPLE PARISHES ACROSS LOUISIANA.
UM, SO AS PART OF THE, THE QUOTE PRIVATIZATION, UH, A LOT OF THE TALK RIGHT NOW IS THAT IT'S COSTING US MORE.
NOW PRIVATIZATION USUALLY SHOULD TURN INTO A COST SAVINGS OVERALL, THE COSTING OF MORE RIGHT NOW, OR ADDITIONAL TO HAVE THEM ON.
IS THAT UNTIL, LIKE YOU SAID, SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE RETIRING, SOME OF THE POSITIONS HADN'T BEEN FILLED EVENTUALLY IT'LL OVERTURN AND SHOULD SAVE.
SO PART OF IT IS, YOU KNOW, IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE AND THE TURNAROUND RATE ON THE PLANE REVIEW AT THE PERMIT OFFICE, WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL STAFF AND ITSELF, RIGHT.
BUT THEY'RE ABLE TO DO IT BECAUSE THEY DO THIS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS.
THEY HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY, THEIR PERSONNEL WORK IN MULTIPLE DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS BECAUSE THE BUILDING CODE IS STANDARD ACROSS THE STATE.
SO THEY HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO HAVE ADDITIONAL STAFF WHEN WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, A SURGE IN PERMITS OR, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN SHIFT THEIR PEOPLE TO BE WORKING ON OTHER PROJECTS WHEN WE DON'T HAVE THE PERMITTING LEVELS, YOU KNOW, HIGH.
SO, AND, AND AGAIN, THEY'RE NOT, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, OUTSOURCING TO A PRIVATE ENTITY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UM, RACHEL, JUST FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC PURPOSES, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT, WHAT YOUR DEPARTMENT DOES, WHAT IT ENCOMPASSES BRIEFLY? UM, WHENEVER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PERMITTING, WHAT TYPES OF PERMITS, JUST A REAL BRIEF OVERVIEW? WELL, SO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL PERMITTING, UM, FOR ALL CONSTRUCTION IN THIS PARISH, RIGHT? THAT, THAT STARTS WITH MASS GRADING, A BLANK SLATE OF LAND BUILDING, THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT HAPPENS.
THOSE PLANS GET REVIEWED IN OUR SUBDIVISION ENGINEERING OFFICE WITH OUR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS ON STAFF.
AND THEN ONCE THAT DEVELOPMENT IS PLOTTED AND THERE ARE LOTS OF RECORD, THEN WHEN THE HOMES ARE GOING TO BE BUILT, THAT GOES INTO THE PERMIT INSPECTIONS OFFICE.
AND SO THEY'RE TASKED WITH CODE ENFORCEMENT AND MAKING SURE THAT THE
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BUILDING CODES ARE BEING MET WHILE THOSE HOUSES ARE BEING, YOU KNOW, CONSTRUCTED.BUT THEN ALSO PART OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION OFFICE IS CODE ENFORCEMENT, YOU KNOW, AFTER THE BUILDING HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED, RIGHT.
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE, BUILDING CODE, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE DOING ALL THE THINGS.
SO WE SEE THE LIFE CYCLE OF DEVELOPMENT FROM BEGINNING ALL THE WAY TO THE END.
AND SO THROUGH, THROUGH WHAT YOU WERE SAYING EARLIER, WE HAVE HAD, UM, WHENEVER I INITIALLY STARTED, WHICH WAS OVER A YEAR AGO, A LITTLE BIT LONGER, UM, WE HAD INCREASING AMOUNTS OF CONVERSATION FOCUSED AROUND THE DELAYS IN THE PERMITTING DEPARTMENT.
I FEEL LIKE THAT HAS BEEN REMEDY TO SOME EXTENT.
WOULD YOU SAY THAT THAT IS ACCURATE? I HAVE SOME STATS FOR YOU HERE TOO.
SO BEF BEFORE SOUTH CENTRAL PLANNING CAME IN AND STARTED, YOU KNOW, RUNNING OUR PERMIT OFFICE, THE RESIDENTIAL PLAN REVIEW TOOK ABOUT 80 DAYS, UM, WOULD, THEY'VE GOTTEN IT DOWN TO 28 CURRENTLY.
UM, COMMERCIAL PLAN REVIEW WAS AT 72 DAYS.
THAT'S, IN-HOUSE NOW EXPEDITED.
THEY CAN DO A RESIDENTIAL PLAN REVIEW IN FOUR DAYS AND THEY CAN DO A COMMERCIAL PLAN REVIEW IN SIX DAYS.
THOSE WERE CURRENT NUMBERS TODAY BACK TO ONE OR FOUR RECENTLY.
SO PART OF THE PLAN REVIEW AND, UM, ARE PART OF THE FEE INCREASE, YOU KNOW, IS GUARANTEEING SOME, SOME PLANE REVIEW RATES AND THEY'RE HELPING US TO DO THAT.
AND THEN ANOTHER THING THAT JUST, IT'S A REOCCURRING THING WITH CITY PARISH, BUT I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO IT.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE ARE SOME SIGNIFICANT RETIREES POTENTIALLY.
DO YOU GUYS HAVE A SUCCESSION PLAN IN PLACE TO KEEP SOME OF THAT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE WITHIN YOUR DEPARTMENT? BECAUSE I THINK SOME OF OUR RETIREES HOLD A LOT OF VALUABLE INFORMATION THAT WE CAN'T LOSE WHENEVER THEY GO.
I'M GOING TO POINT TO MY PREDECESSOR WHO RETIRED RECENTLY AND TOOK ALL OF THAT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE WITH HIM.
SO I DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE ONE THAT HAS IT.
UM, I'VE, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET ALL THE THINGS DONE THAT, SO THAT HASN'T BEEN SOMETHING, BUT HONESTLY THIS WE'LL CALL IT REORGANIZATION AND, AND, YOU KNOW, BEING ABLE TO, TO UTILIZE DIFFERENT RESOURCES IN OTHER WAYS WILL AFFORD ME TO MAKE CERTAIN THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND, AND, AND I MEAN, I TRY TO PROMOTE THAT AND YOU KNOW, MY EMPLOYEES, I WANT THEM TO TAKE OWNERSHIP AND, YOU KNOW, LOVE THEIR JOBS.
SO UNTIL THAT THEY STAY AND, YOU KNOW, HELP US MAKE THE CITY BETTER.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU DO.
ANYONE, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I HAVE REAL QUICK? WHAT, HOW MUCH, WHAT THE, UH, OUTSOURCING, HOW MUCH OF THE DEPARTMENT, UH, IS OUTSOURCED NOW, AND THAT WILL BE MOVING TO, UM, WE HAVE THE THREE POSITIONS THAT ARE OUTSOURCED AT THE PERMIT OFFICE.
UM, WE HAVE THREE POSITIONS THAT ARE OUTSOURCED AT THE PERMIT OFFICE CURRENTLY.
UM, AND CURRENTLY YOU CAN GO EXPEDITED AND YOU'RE PLAYING REVIEW PROCESS AT THE PERMIT OFFICE, BUT THAT'S JUST A PASS THROUGH.
SO THE INTENT OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE NEW FEE INCREASE AT THE PERMIT OFFICE IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO RETAIN THAT MONEY AND THEN JUST HAVE THE CONTRACT WITH THEM TO DO IT.
UM, SO THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, REDUCING OUR BURDEN ON THE GENERAL FUND.
UM, AND THEN, SO WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE ELIMINATING, I THINK, 12 OR 14 POSITIONS, BUT WE HAVE 25 VACANCIES.
AND SO EVERYONE WE'RE STILL GONNA HAVE 15, 14 VACANCIES EVEN AFTER THAT.
HOW LONG HAVE THOSE VACANCIES BEEN? UM, SOME OF THEM HAVE BEEN QUITE A WHILE.
SOME OF THEM ARE MY PLANE REVIEWERS.
I MEAN, THE TECHNICAL STAFF, WE CANNOT RETAIN AND ATTRACT AND KEEP THE, THAT THOSE PEOPLE, AS SOON AS THEY'RE, THEY'RE TRAINED AND, YOU KNOW, WE JUST EXPENDED THE TIME, THEN, THEN THEY TEND TO MOVE ON.
UH, AND JUST LIKE EVERY DEPARTMENT OF WHATEVER YOU HAVE CARRY FORWARD MONEY AND SO ON.
AND I UNDERSTAND AND RESPECT THE FACT THAT SOME OF THAT CARRY FORWARD IS FROM POSITIONS THAT WEREN'T FILLED OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
WOULD YOU HAVE AN ESTIMATION OF HOW MUCH CARRY FORWARD THAT YOU WOULD HAVE WITHOUT HOW MUCH CARRY FORWARD YOU WOULD HAVE, BUT AFTER THOSE, BECAUSE IF THOSE POSITIONS WERE FIELD, WOULD THAT BE A FAIR QUESTION MAYBE FOR FINANCE OR I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW.
OR IF THAT'S EVEN A WAY TO ASK THE CORRECT QUESTION, WE HAVE SOME CARRY FORWARD.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE HAVE DONE SOME RECENT RENOVATIONS AT THE PERMIT OFFICE.
AND SO SOME OF THAT'S EARMARKED FOR THAT OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS HAS BEEN ABOUT 1, 4, 1, 4, 1 3, GO BACK TO 2018.
WE HAVE STARTED USING OUR CARRY FORWARD TO, UH, CUT DOWN ON SOME OF OUR BACKLOG ON OUR BLIGHT AND, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF OUR DEMOLITIONS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
AND, AND NUISANCE ABATEMENT, RIGHT.
TO HELP, YOU KNOW, MAKE THINGS REVITALIZED IN THIS PARISH.
AND IN HER DEFENSE, SHE'S NEVER HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO REQUEST CARRY FORWARD.
IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SOMEONE BEFORE
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HER.SO, UM, I WOULD SAY THAT THERE IS SOME MONEY ASSOCIATED WITH, UM, SOME VACANCIES, BUT IT'S PROBABLY NOT THE MAJORITY OF IT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT? SORRY.
SO JUST, UH, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT THERE'S A POTENTIAL WITH SOUTH CENTRAL PLANNING.
UM, IF YOU'RE GETTING, IF YOU'RE SEEING MORE PERMITTING AND YOU'RE SEEING THE, UH, QUANTITY OF WORK, EXPAND THAT THEY'LL BRING ON MORE STAFFING TO COVER IT, RIGHT? YEAH.
WELL, THEY HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO ALLOCATE THE STAFF AS THEY SEE FIT, RIGHT? LIKE, SO THEY HAVE MANY PLANE REVIEWERS MORE THAN JUST THEN THAT NEED TO BE HERE TO COVER THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT IN EAST BATON ROUGE, PARISH HAS WORKLOAD.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, SO STUFF CAN WAX AND WANE AND THEY HAVE, THEY CAN AFFORD TO, TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO COVER THEIR DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS.
SO THEY DO MORE THAN JUST EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SO THAT THEY HAVE THAT FLEXIBILITY.
AND SO W IF WE'RE GOING HAVE, UH, GUARANTEES OR PROMISES ON TIMELINES, THAT'S, THAT'S WHEN THEY KNOW THEY NEED TO STEP IT UP BASED ON THE WORKLOAD.
AND THEY THEY'VE, THEY'VE AGREED TO THOSE, THOSE TIMELINES.
AND THEY'RE THE TIMELINES THAT WE'RE GOING TO GUARANTEE IN THE ORDINANCE THAT WE'RE INTRODUCING TOMORROW, UM, ARE COMPARABLE TO OUR CURRENT EXPEDITED TIMEFRAMES THAT WEEKEND, THAT THEY GUARANTEE ALREADY THROUGH THE PERMIT OFFICE.
AND THEN THEY'RE GOING TO OFFER AN EVEN HIGHER, OR W W SMALLER GUARANTEE, UM, IN YOU SEE, YOU'LL STILL HAVE THE OPTION TO GO EXPEDITED.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE FEE STRUCTURE WILL CHANGE.
SO THAT, THAT, THAT MONEY THAT'S WHEN THEY GO EXPEDITE IT, QUOTE UNQUOTE WILL STILL BE A PASS THROUGH BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, ALL THE MONEY, WHEN THEY GO EXPEDITED, W THEY PAY THIS EXTRA FEE TO GO EXPEDITED, BUT SOUTH CENTRAL DOES THE PLAN REVIEW AND THAT MONEY JUST GETS PASSED THROUGH TO THEM.
I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYONE FROM THE PUBLIC HAVE ANY COMMENTS.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO OFFICER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
I'LL GIVE Y'ALL A SECOND TO GET YOUR PRESENTATIONS.
ARE YOU OKAY? MY NAME IS TASHA SAUNDERS, AND I AM THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
SO, UM, TONIGHT I'M JUST GOING TO RUN YOU THROUGH OUR MISSION STATEMENT.
AND SINCE, UH, THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS IT'S NOT A NEW DEPARTMENT, BUT, UM, WE HAVE GONE THROUGH A LOT OF RESTRUCTURING AND REORGANIZING OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
SO I'M GOING TO TAKE YOU GUYS THROUGH JUST A LITTLE BRIEF, LITTLE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF WHERE WE WERE, AND THEN I'LL TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE NOW.
WE'LL GO THROUGH OUR CURRENT STAFFING AND A BUDGET ANALYSIS, AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT OUR 2022 BUDGET REQUESTS, UM, WITH OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU GUYS, OUR STAFFING ANALYSIS, BUDGET ANALYSIS, AND THE PARTNERSHIPS WE HAVE, AND THEN I'LL REVIEW THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART.
SO, UM, IT SHALL BE THE MISSION OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO ENRICH THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE, THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CREATIVE COMMUNITY-BASED STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, BUILD STRONG NEIGHBORHOODS AND ENSURE DYNAMIC FRAMEWORK FOR QUALITY, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
AND, UM, WHAT I DON'T HAVE ON THE SLIDE IS THAT THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND OVERSIGHT OF THE CITY PARISHES, FEDERAL DOLLARS RECEIVED FROM MOSTLY ALL OF OUR FEDERAL FUNDING ENTITIES, LIKE HUD, THE U S TREASURY, UH, FEMA.
AND THEN IF WE GET ANY DISASTER FUNDS FROM THE STATE, WE ALSO ADMINISTER THOSE DOLLARS.
NOW IT'S A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHERE WE WERE.
SO PRIOR TO THE MAYOR GROOM'S ADMINISTRATION, UH, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WENT THROUGH MANY, MANY, UH, STRUGGLES.
UH, MOST NOTABLY WAS, UH, AN OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL FINDING THAT RESULTED IN THE CITY PARISH HAVING TO REPAY, UM, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO HUD FOR IMPROPER SPENDING.
THERE ARE ALSO MULTIPLE YEARS OF HUD MONITORING REPORTS WITH, UH, FIELD AUDITS AND, UH, PERFORMANCE ISSUES.
AND THEN A YEARS OF REPEATED, UM, CD PARISH, UH, INTERNAL AUDITS, WHICH REVEALED VERY SIMILAR RESULTS.
SO IN 2017, UH, THE MAYOR DID COMMISSION A TRANSITION TEAM, AND, UH, THEY CAME UP WITH A TRANSITION REPORT.
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UH, SOME OF THE FINDINGS OF THAT REPORT FOR THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, BUT I'VE ATTACHED IN YOUR PACKET, A, UM, THE RELATIVE SECTION FROM THAT, FROM THAT TRANSITION REPORT, UM, IT'S IN TAB THREE, I BELIEVE OF YOUR TAB, EXCUSE ME, OF YOUR BINDER.SO, UM, MOST NOTABLY THE TRANSITION TEAM REVEAL THAT THERE WAS A LACK OF GENUINE COMMUNITY INPUT ON STRATEGIC PLANS.
THERE WAS ALSO EXTENSIVE DELAYS IN CONTRACT ISSUANCE AND SUB-RECIPIENTS AND OCD RANKED LAST AMONG, UH, LOCAL PARTICIPATING JURISDICTIONS IN LOUISIANA.
SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THAT TEAM WERE TO ELIMINATE THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND, OR COMBINE THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WITH THE THEN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH HOUSING AUTHORITY.
SO, UM, OF COURSE THE MAYOR DID NOT ELIMINATE THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
SO WE WENT THROUGH A PERIOD OF RESTRUCTURING WHERE THE STAFF WAS DOWNSIZED CONSIDERABLY.
AND, UM, MOST OF THE WORK THAT WAS BEING DONE OUT OF THAT OFFICE WAS, UM, THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS, UH, FARMED OUT TO OTHER ENTITIES LIKE THESE MEN, RICH PARENTS, HOUSING AUTHORITY, THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, WHICH IS AN INTERNAL OFFICE RUN BY MS AND THEN, UM, BILL BATON ROUGE, WHICH WAS THEN THE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.
SO AFTER THE DOWNSIDES THAT LEFT US WITH FOUR POSITIONS, SO THAT IS CURRENTLY WHAT WE HAVE.
WE HAVE FOUR, UM, A LOT OF POSITIONS THROUGH HR FROM BETWEEN 20, 20, 20 18 THROUGH THE PRESENT.
AND THOSE POSITIONS ARE MYSELF DIRECTOR.
WE HAVE A GRANT MONITOR, WHICH IS DARYL BLEACHER, CONFIDENTIAL SECRETARY, WHICH IS SYDNEY RABY.
AND THEN WE HAVE A VACANT POSITION AND A PROGRAM ANALYST OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE GENERAL FUND SUPPORT HAS BEEN VERY CONSISTENT BECAUSE THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY STAFF IN THAT AGENCY.
SO, UM, WE HAVE BEEN RECEIVING A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS EACH YEAR FROM THE GENERAL FUND.
SO I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS IMMENSE POWER WHEN I GREW UP GOOD.
WHEN A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR INTERESTS GET TOGETHER TO WORK TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL.
AND THAT IS WHAT WE SHALL DO FOR YOU ALL.
WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL.
SO THIS IS OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU.
UM, WITH THIS REORGANIZED OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, WE COMMIT TO BEING TRANSPARENT, ACCOUNTABLE, AND RESPONSIVE.
WE WILL START DOING QUARTERLY REPORTS, PRESENTATIONS TO YOU ALL.
AND I WILL ALSO START POSTING OUR CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW ON THE WEBSITE ON THE CITY PARISHES OCD WEBSITE, AND RESPONSIVENESS HAS BEEN A MAJOR CONCERN FROM THE PUBLIC AND INTERNALLY AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, WITH INCREASED STAFF, WE'LL BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE PHONES, UM, ANSWERED THE DOORS AND MORE CUSTOMER SERVICE.
WE'LL ALSO BE INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY BY ADDING ADDITIONAL STAFF.
AND, UH, WE ABLE TO MAKE MORE THOUGHTFUL PLACEMAKING, WHICH RESULT IN BETTER PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
SO WE WANT TO BRING IN, UH, EVERYBODY AND GIVE THEM A SEAT AT THE TABLE, THE PUBLIC, YOU ALL OTHER, UM, ENTITIES WITHIN THE CITY PARISH.
AND OF COURSE COMPLIANCE IS GOING TO BE, OR IS CURRENTLY OUR TOP PRIORITY.
AND WHAT YOU WOULD GET FROM US IS TANGIBLE, QUANTIFIABLE, MEASURABLE RESULTS.
SO WHAT RESOURCES DO WE NEED TO GET THERE? OUR CURRENT 2022 GENERAL FUND BUDGET REQUEST IS $392,000.
AND THAT FUNDING WILL BE USED TO COVER, UM, FULL-TIME SALARY PERCENTAGES OF, UM, THAT ARE NOT BUILT TO GRANT PROGRAMS BECAUSE WE DO SUPPORT OTHER EFFORTS WITHIN CITY PARISH.
ALSO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE FRINGE BENEFITS AND, UH, DEPARTMENTAL INCIDENT ON COSTS THAT WE CAN'T, UH, ATTRIBUTE TO A GRANT PROGRAM.
UM, SO OUR FULL-TIME POSITION A LOT IN REQUEST, ADDITIONAL POSITIONS WE ARE REQUESTING TO BE ADDED ARE A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER WHO WILL LIAISE WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AND OTHER ENTITIES, OTHER DEPARTMENTS WITHIN CITY PARISH.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE CURRENTLY ARE WORKING WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON THE HOMELESSNESS INITIATIVE.
UM, THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR, UM, OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT OF THE MAYOR IS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, HOMELESS OUTREACH TEAM.
SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE EFFORTS LIKE THAT.
WE'LL ADD A PROGRAM ANALYST WHO WILL SUPPORT THIS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER POSITION.
WE'LL ALSO BE ADDING AN ADDITIONAL GRANT ADMINISTRATOR WHO WILL SEEK OUT AND APPLY FOR GRANT FUNDING ON BEHALF OF NOT JUST THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, BUT OTHER ENTITIES AND DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY PARISH.
AND WE'LL ALSO BE ADDING A SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST WHO WILL SERVE THE ROLE AS OUR IN TAKE COORDINATOR AND RECEPTIONIST.
SO WE DID RECEIVE A $3.4 MILLION LEAD HAS A REDUCTION GRANT, AND THAT GRANT DOES REQUIRE US TO HAVE AN INTAKE SPECIALIST WHO WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR VETTING APPLICATIONS FROM HOMEOWNERS OR ELIGIBILITY
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REQUIREMENTS FOR THAT PROGRAM.ALSO, ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE REQUESTING THAT OUR CURRENT GRANT MANAGER POSITION, WHICH IS HELD BY MR. BLEACHER IS, UH, RETITLED TO A GRANT ADMINISTRATOR POSITION, WHICH BETTER ALIGNS WITH THE DUTIES THAT SHE'S CURRENTLY SERVING FOR US.
WE'RE ALSO REQUESTING THAT ALL FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE OCD POSITIONS BE DECLASSIFIED.
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM PRIOR EXPERIENCE IS THAT ALL OF THESE GRANTS ARE BASED ON PERFORMANCE AND OUR POSITION SHOULD BE AS WELL.
HOLDING PERSONS IN CLASSIFIED POSITIONS, UM, LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO IMMEDIATELY ADDRESS PERFORMANCE CONCERNS.
AND, UM, SO THAT IS WHY WE WERE REQUESTING THAT ALL OF THOSE POSITIONS TO BE DECLASSIFIED.
SO I THINK THE MAIN QUESTION FROM A LOT OF PEOPLE IS HOW DO THESE, UM, HOW DO THESE CHANGES AFFECT OUR PARTNERSHIPS? SO CURRENTLY WE HAVE THE MAJOR PARTNER, TWO MAJOR PARTNERSHIPS, THE ONE WITH THE EASTBOUND RIDGE PARISH, HOUSING AUTHORITY, THESE CHANGES WILL NOT AFFECT THAT RELATIONSHIP AT ALL.
THESE VETERANS PARENTS HOUSING AUTHORITY WILL CONTINUE TO MANAGE AND ADMINISTER OUR HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS AND ALSO PROPERTY MANAGEMENT OF ALL OCD OWNED RENTAL HOUSES.
THE BIGGEST RELATIONSHIP IS WITH BILL BATON ROUGE.
SO I WANT TO JUST, UH, GO THROUGH, UH, TAKE A PAUSE HERE AND JUST KIND OF GO THROUGH THE BILL BATON ROUGE, OUR RELATIONSHIP.
SO IN YOUR PACKET, THERE'S ALSO, UH, OCD, BBR TRANSITION REPORT.
AND, UM, SO IN 2017, WHEN WE DOWNSIZE OCD, WE DID ENTER INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH BILL BATON ROUGE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM AND THE HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM.
AFTER THAT RELATIONSHIP, UH, HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR AWHILE, THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED TO EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT, UH, STAFFING TURNOVER.
SO THEY WENT FROM FOUR TO ONE PERSON IN THAT DEPARTMENT, WHICH LEFT A MAJOR GAP IN ADMINISTRATIVE NEEDS.
UM, THAT BILL BATON ROUGE PROBABLY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PERFORMING, BUT WE WERE SUPPORTING, I SAID, WE, BECAUSE I WAS THERE AT THE TIME WE WERE SUPPORTING THOSE EFFORTS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ONE IN THE CITY PARISH, UM, WITH THAT EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE TO DO SO.
AND, UH, THAT WAS KIND OF FROWNED UPON BY HUD.
AND SO, UM, ONE OF THE MAJOR THINGS THAT HUD HAS TOLD US IS THAT, UM, THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND THE CITY PARISH NEEDS TO MAINTAIN A GREATER OVERSIGHT OF THESE GRANT DOLLARS.
EVEN IF WE HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH BILL BATON ROUGE, IT IS STILL INCUMBENT UPON THE CITY PARISH TO OVERSEE AND MANAGE THOSE AND RENT DOLLARS AS THE RECIPIENT AND AS THE RESPONSIBLE ENTITY.
AND SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE WENT THROUGH A PERIOD WHERE I MOVED FROM BILL BATON ROUGE TO THE CITY PARISH.
AND I'M NOW YOUR DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
AFTER MY TRANSITION BUILD BATON ROUGE EXPERIENCE, WHAT WE'RE PROBABLY CALLING IS THE, UM, GREAT MIGRATION AFTER A POST PANDEMIC WHEN PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO GET MORE, UH, REMOTE POSITIONS AND LOOKING FOR BETTER JOBS.
SO BILL VAN ROOTS HAS ALSO EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT TURNOVER.
UM, SO THAT ALSO LEAVES THEM DEFICIENT IN STAFF.
SO HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD? UM, KNOWING THE, KNOWING THE REQUESTS THAT HOOD HAS, WHICH IS FOR THE CITY TO HAVE BETTER ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT, UM, IT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST THAT MANY OF THOSE ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS COME BACK TO THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
ARE WE FULLY REBUILD AN OFFICE? SO IF YOU'RE NEW TO NO, WE'RE NOT.
UM, BUT WE ARE STRENGTHENING THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BY ADDING THESE FULL-TIME POSITIONS.
AND WE'RE ALSO GOING TO BE, UM, ABSORBING THE THREE REMAINING GRANT STAFF FROM BATON ROUGE IN THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
TWO PEOPLE WILL BE BROUGHT IN AS CONTRACTORS AND ONE PERSON WILL BE BROUGHT IN AS A FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE, UM, REALIZING THROUGH THIS, BUT IT'S IN THE, UM, TRANSITION PLAN, UH, GO BACK SYDNEY.
SO THE FUTURE BILL BATON ROUGE, BATON ROUGE IS GOING TO CONTINUE DOING ALL OF THE CITY'S, UH, REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES LIKE LAND BANKING AND, UH, HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS, MIXED USE DEVELOPMENTS.
THEY'RE ALSO CONTINUED WITH HELPING US WITH THE LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION GRANT AND ALSO THE CHOICE IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.
AND I THINK THAT'S IT ON THIS, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT AND SYDNEY.
SO THIS IS WHAT THE FUTURE OF THE OPPOSITE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LOOKS LIKE.
AND I'M GOING TO JUST KIND OF RUN YOU THROUGH THIS A LITTLE BIT.
SO COURTNEY SCOTT IS OUR ASSISTANT CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, AND THEN YOU HAVE MYSELF AS THE DIRECTOR ON THE CONSULTANT SIDE, WE CURRENTLY HOLD
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CONTRACTS WITH ELLIOT AND ASSOCIATES, WHICH IS HGA P H E, WHICH IS PAN AMERICAN ENGINEERING AND THE HOUSING FIRST ALLIANCE.UM, TO THE OTHER SIDE, OUR PARTNERS ARE HEALTHY BR, WHICH IS THE MAYOR'S HEALTHY CITY INITIATIVE, BILL BATON ROUGE, OF COURSE, UM, DHTS DPW DOTD AND THE CITY'S DOTD AND EAST BATON ROUGE, PARISH HOUSING AUTHORITY.
UM, THE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS THAT WE'RE ADDING ARE RIGHT THERE UNDER COMMUNITY PLANNING, WHICH WOULD BE THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, A PROGRAM ANALYST, AND A GRANT ADMINISTRATOR UNDER OCD ADMIN.
WE DO HAVE AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AS A CONSULTANT, UM, BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE THE BUDGET TO HIRE THAT PERSON FULL AS A FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE AND SIDNEY RABIES, OUR CONFIDENTIAL SECRETARY.
AND THEN WE WILL ADD THE INTAKE SPECIALISTS AND RECEPTIONIST ON INTERNAL PROGRAMMING.
WE HAVE THE GRANT ADMINISTRATOR, WHICH WAS FORMALLY TITLED THE GRANT MANAGER MONITOR, EXCUSE ME.
AND THEN A PROGRAM ANALYST CURRENTLY SERVING AS A CONTRACTOR IS, UM, JENNIFER RABANNE.
AND SHE HASN'T BEEN WITH THE DEPARTMENT SINCE 2017 AS A CONTRACTOR.
SHE HAS WORKED THE, UM, EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT AND THE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONS WITH AIDS GRANT.
AND SO WE WOULD LIKE TO ROLL HER UP INTO A FULL-TIME POSITION AND MAKE HER A PROGRAM ANALYST.
UM, THE BOTTOM SECTION IS OUR GRANT MANAGEMENT SECTION, AND THOSE WILL BE 100% CONTRACT EMPLOYEES.
UM, WE WILL HAVE PERMANENT SPECIALISTS THAT WILL BE ADMINISTERING THE HOME PROGRAM, CDBG, UM, ESG.
AND HOPWA, WE'RE ALSO ADDING A PROGRAM SPECIALIST SPECIFICALLY DEDICATED TO THE HOMELESSNESS EFFORT BECAUSE IT'S A MAJOR FEAT ALL IN, IN ALL OF ITSELF.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE SOMEONE WHO WILL BE DOING ALL OF OUR SPECIAL PROJECTS, LIKE THE LEAD HAZARD PROGRAM, THE CHOICE NEIGHBORHOOD IMPLEMENTATION GRANT, OUR DISASTER FUNDS, AND THEN, UM, OUR EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
YEAH, I'M DONE QUESTIONING, UM, UNDER THE GRANT MANAGEMENT THAT WE'RE SEEING HERE.
I SEE CARES ACT UNDER THAT PARTICULAR PIECE.
I KNOW WITH THE, UM, THE LAST CARES ACT MONEY WE HAD DISCUSSED, UH, THERE WAS A PORTION THAT WE WERE GOING TO UTILIZE TO HIRE A CONSULTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL THOSE DOLLARS WERE PROPERLY HANDLED.
UM, IS THAT, IS THAT ENCOMPASSED IN THIS LITTLE CHART HERE? I DON'T THINK, I THINK THAT, THAT THOSE THOUGHTS THAT YOU SPEAK OF ARE THE CITY PARISHES, UM, AS LIKE A SEPARATE POT OF FUNDING, UM, WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR, I THINK ANGIE'S COMING UP, WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OWN, SO NOT, NOT THE SAME CONSULTANT THEN NO, MA'AM IT'S BUDGET TALK.
YOU WANT TO JUST PULL THE CHAIR UP? SHE'S STEALING MY THUNDER.
SO WHILE SO, WHEN I COME UP AND ASK FOR YOUR APPROVAL FOR CONSIDERATION OF TWO GRANT ANALYSTS, THIS IS WHY SO, UM, OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS D H D S AND THEN THE CITY PARISH GOT THEIR OWN SEPARATE CARES MONEY.
SO THEY HAVE PROBABLY FOUR OR FIVE GRANTS.
D H D S HAS FOUR OR FIVE GRANTS, AND THEN WE HAVE AMERICAN RESCUE MONEY, AND THEN WE GOT LOUISIANA CARES, ACT MONEY.
SO THERE'S A MULTITUDE OR POTS OF CARES FUNDING, COVID FUNDING, AMERICAN RESCUE FUNDING.
SO SHE'S TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I'VE BEEN PRESENTING TO Y'ALL CONSULTANTS TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT, BECAUSE I THINK IT'S GOING TO GET SUPER COMPLEX, BUT SO I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF THAT FELL UNDER THE SAME UMBRELLA OR NOT.
SO YOU ARE TOTALLY IN SEPARATE, TOTALLY SEPARATE, BUT WE DO HAVE CONSULTANTS, UM, IN H HUNT, GILLIAN AND ASSOCIATES, WHO IS OUR MAIN CONSULTANT, AND THEY DO ASSIST US WITH COMPLIANCE AND DAY-TO-DAY ADMINISTRATION OF ALL GRANT PROGRAMS. I'VE STUDIED IT A LOT AND IT IS SUPER COMPLEX.
SO I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, UM, I DEFINITELY THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
UM, AND WHENEVER YOU WERE SAYING JENNIFER, ROBIN, I'M NOT SURE WHO THAT IS, BUT I HAVE HER NAME WRITTEN DOWN.
YOU SAID THAT SHE WAS GOING TO MOVE IN POTENTIALLY TO A PROGRAM ANALYST ROLE FOR YOU GUYS.
UM, WHENEVER WE'RE LOOKING AT THE HOMELESSNESS PROGRAM AND I NOTED IT ON A COUPLE PAGES BACK, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CONSISTENTLY HEAR ABOUT AND ALL ALONG THAT THEME, I FEEL LIKE WE'RE HEARING LESS ABOUT HOMELESSNESS, BUT MORE ABOUT DRUG ABUSE AND PEOPLE NOT WILLING TO ACCEPT THE PROGRAMS THAT THEY'RE OFFERED.
SO CAN YOU TELL ME, UM, I HAVE HOMELESS OUTREACH TEAM HERE.
I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO INTERRUPT YOU CAUSE YOU WERE DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB.
CAN YOU TELL ME HOW ARE WE REMEDYING THAT? HOW ARE YOU REMEDYING THAT? WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? UM, HOW CAN WE BE CHEERLEADERS FOR THAT? OKAY.
SO WE ARE WE, THE BEN BEHAVIORAL, BEN ROUGE, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOMELESS OUTREACH TEAM, AND WE CALL IT, UM, THE HOT TEAM, UH, WAS AN IDEA THAT WAS A THOUGHT FROM DR.
AND, UH, IT IS A COLLABORATION OF FOUR ENTITIES THAT EAST
[00:30:01]
BATON ROUGE, PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE, THE BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND TWO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS GROUP, UH, THE CAPITOL AREA RE-ENTRY PROGRAM AND STITCHES FOR LIFE.AND SO THOSE FOUR ENTITIES ARE THE SHERIFF IS ASSIGNED TO THE PARISH.
AND THEN THE CITY B RPD IS ASSIGNED TO CITY LIMITS.
AND A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TEAM IS ASSIGNED TO BOTH, UH, LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.
AND SO THOSE TEAMS WILL GO OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY IN WHAT THEY CONSIDER HOT ZONES AND, UH, PATROL THE AREA.
AND INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING PEOPLE TO JAIL, THE IDEA OF HAVING THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SPECIALIST IS SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE THOSE REAL-TIME INTERVENTIONS.
SO THEY'RE GOING TO INTERVIEW THE PERSON.
THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE CARRYING ANY OF THE NARCAN OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
THEY'RE IN THEY'LL, UM, INTERVIEW THE PERSON, FIGURE OUT WHY THEY'RE HOMELESS, WHAT PARISH THEY CAME FROM.
CAUSE SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT REALLY FROM EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, UM, FIGURE OUT WHAT PARISH THEY CAME FROM AND THEN ASSESS WHAT THEY NEED TO GO FORWARD.
SOME PEOPLE WOULD NEED TO GO TO THE HOPE CENTER, THE, THE BRIDGE CENTER FOR HOPE.
SOME PEOPLE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL.
UM, SOME PEOPLE MAY NEED TO BE TAKEN TO A SHELTER, UM, WHERE WE CAN WORK WITH THEM TO GET TRANSITIONAL HOUSING.
IF IT'S, IF IT'S THAT TYPE OF ISSUE, IT'S NOT LIKE A DRUG OR A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ISSUE.
IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN ACCESS THAT HOT TEAMS' NUMBER? YEAH.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON A NUMBER, MS. DARRELL IS ACTUALLY, UH, THE POINT PERSON ON THAT ONE.
SO I'LL BE SURE TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THE NUMBER TO YOU GUYS.
AND ONCE WE GET THAT SET UP, THANK YOU.
SO WE'RE STILL IN THE CONTRACT PHASE OF THAT, UM, BEFORE WE RELEASE THEM TO GO OUT, UM, WE'RE EXCITED AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE PROGRESS OF THAT PROGRAM.
THE CHAIR RECOGNIZES COUNCILMAN ROCKET.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I, I AGREE WITH, UH, UH, COUNCILWOMAN ROCCA.
THIS IS, YOU KNOW, LOOKING OVER THIS CHART AND EVERYTHING IS, I MEAN, Y'ALL, Y'ALL HAVE GOT A PROGRAM UNDER HERE THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I CAN KEEP UP WITH WHAT YOU HAVE HERE, BUT I GUESS MY BIGGEST QUESTION IS, IS, IS MOST OF YOUR FUNDING SOURCES THROUGH THE GRANTS? MOST OF OUR FUNDING SOURCES ARE THROUGH BRANDS.
AND THAT IS THAT WHAT'S GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THESE POSITIONS THAT ARE COMING ON NOW, THE GRANT MANAGEMENT ONES, HOME PROGRAM SPECIALISTS, CBT CDBG, SENIOR PROGRAMS, BUT ALL THESE, YOU SAID, ALL THOSE ARE POSITIONS THAT ARE BASED ON GRANTS AND PAID FOR THROUGH THE GRANT.
SO AS THE GRANT GOES AWAY, THEIR, THEIR POSITION GOES AWAY.
WHAT OTHER POSITIONS ARE IN NET, I GUESS IN THAT CHART, GO BACK TO THE CHARTING.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER POSITIONS THAT ARE BASED ON GRANTS IN THE ABOVE THE CHART? I MEAN, ALL OF THESE POSITIONS CAN BE BUILT TO A GRANT PROGRAM, BUT THE BOTTOM POSITIONS ARE 100%.
THAT'S ALL THEY WORK ON IS GRANT PROGRAMS. THE TOP, TOP PART OF THE CHART.
UM, WE WORK ON THE GRANT PROGRAMS, BUT WE ALSO WORK ON OTHER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT RELATED ISSUES THAT WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TIE TO A PARTICULAR GRANT PROGRAM.
WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT TIED TO A GRANT PROGRAM INITIALLY.
SO THE TIME THAT WE SPEND ON THAT PROGRAM WOULD BE BUILT TO THE GENERAL FUND UNTIL, OR IF WE CAN FIND A GRANT PROGRAM TO BUILD IT TO.
UM, THE SERVER ADMIN INTAKE, YOU MENTIONED THAT, UM, AS THAT WAS A REQUIREMENT, THAT POSITION IS A REQUIREMENT OF HUD.
SO HUD, UM, THE CITY PARENTS RECEIVE FROM HUD'S OFFICE OF LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION, A $3.4 MILLION LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION GRANT.
AND, UH, TWO OF THE POSITIONS WITHIN THAT GRANT, UM, ARE REQUIRED POSITIONS.
ONE OF THEM IS THE INTAKE SPECIALIST POSITION, AND ANOTHER POSITION WILL BE FILLED THROUGH THE, UM, THE BOTTOM SECTION, WHICH WOULD BE THE GRANT MANAGEMENT.
SO THAT THAT'S A POSITION THAT COMES ON TO THE CITY PARISH OR THAT'S BASED ON THAT GRANT, IT'S COMING TO THE CITY OF PARIS.
SO WE'RE ALSO GOING TO UTILIZE SOME, WE'RE KIND OF, KIND OF DOUBLE DIP ON THAT PERSON.
WE'RE ALSO GOING TO UTILIZE THEM AS OUR RECEPTIONIST AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE THE PERSON THAT'S ANSWERING THE PHONE AND ARE RECEIVING ALL THE GUESTS AND ROUTING PEOPLE FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE TO WHATEVER.
CAUSE WE DO GET A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT STILL COME TO THE OFFICE.
AGAIN, WE DISCUSSED OUTSOURCING IN THE LAST ONE OR WHATEVER HGA, PA BAE, THE, THESE ARE CONSULTANTS AND EVERYTHING, OR THEIR ORGANIZATIONS THAT IT'S INDIVIDUALS, SINGLE ORGANIZATIONS THAT AS FAR AS MANAGING ALL OF THIS ARE THESE INDIVIDUAL POSITIONS.
UM, SO YEAH, LIKE HGA, UM, ASSIST US WITH MANAGEMENT OF OUR EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM THROUGH THEM.
WE DO HAVE CASE MANAGERS, THEY'RE BUILDING LIKE $150 AN HOUR.
SO IT IS A MUCH CHEAPER AND MUCH MORE, UH,
[00:35:01]
FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBLE TO, UH, YEAH, DO THIS, DO IT, DO IT THIS WAY RATHER THAN THROUGH A COMPANY THAT MAY PROVIDE STAFFING FOR US.ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COUNCILMAN DONE, TASHA, HOW YOU DOING CUP OF QUESTIONS? UM, IN 2017, OBVIOUSLY THE OFFICE WAS ALSO ASKED TO YOUR, THE UNEMPLOYMENT OF BATON ROUGE.
A LOT OF PEOPLE FELT THAT THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WAS AGAINST THAT.
A LOT OF PEOPLE, UM, TRANSITIONED AND LOST THEIR JOB BECAUSE OF THE, ALSO I SAID, IT SOUNDS AS IF THE PHASE HAD CONCERNS WITH THAT APPROACH.
WAS THERE ANY DISCIPLINARY ACTION TAKEN FOR THAT SINCE THEY FROWNED ON THAT? YEAH, SO WE MEET EVERY MONTH WITH HUD.
UM, I SUBMIT TO THEM EVERY MONTH A REPORT AND WE HAVE A CONFERENCE CALL WITH THEM, UH, ONCE A MONTH.
AND, UH, THEY ACTUALLY ARE VERY PLEASED WITH THE PROGRESS THAT WE HAVE MADE.
THEY DO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A PERIOD THAT WAS NEEDED TO REALLY TRIAGE AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON AND I FIGURED OUT THE BEST PATH FORWARD.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE DID OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
UM, SO THEY'RE PLEASED WITH THE PROGRESS.
THEY, UM, INCLUDING THE HUD HEADQUARTERS IN DC HAVE ALL, UM, MADE, UH, COMMENTS ABOUT THE NOTABLE PROGRESS THAT THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE HAS BEEN MAKING.
I'LL GIVE YOU A TIMELINE OF WHEN EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE BACK IN HOUSE.
WHAT ABOUT THE FARM EMPLOYEES? HAVE THERE BEEN ANY, UH, OUTREACH TO THEM AND SEE IF THE INTEREST IN COMING BACK? SO, UM, WE HAVE NOT MADE ANY OUTREACH TO ANY FORMER EMPLOYEES.
UH, THE POSITIONS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY HELD BY THOSE FORMER EMPLOYEES ARE GOING TO BE CONTRACT POSITIONS.
THE POSITIONS THAT WE'RE ADDING, UM, WERE NOT POSITIONS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY FIELD ON THE BOOKS FOR OCD.
UM, WELL, A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NEW EMPLOYEES TO BE HARD.
SO THESE, THOSE POSITIONS DON'T EXIST RIGHT NOW.
THEY'LL THEY'LL EXIST AFTER THIS BUDGET.
IS THAT SO YEAH, THE PROGRAM AND THEY'RE ON THE BOOK, WE DO HAVE A PROGRAM ANALYST POSITION.
AND THEN THE OTHERS ARE EARNED, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT IS, SO IT IS A TOUGH JOB MARKET OUT THERE.
UM, WHAT IS, HOW OPTIMISTIC ARE YOU ABOUT FINDING, UM, ABOUT FINDING GOOD CANDIDATES AND DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO PAY THEM ENOUGH TO ATTRACT? I THINK WE, I THINK WE ARE, UM, WE'VE WE MADE THE WE'VE PRICED ALL THE POSITIONS ARE VERY COMPETITIVELY AND WITHIN NATIONAL AVERAGES, UM, SOME OF THE POSITIONS THAT WE HAD, LIKE MS GERALD'S POSITION, UM, WAS REALLY NOT IN LINE WITH THE NATIONAL AVERAGE FOR THAT GRANT FOR THAT TITLE.
AND SO, UM, WE DID SOLICIT THAT THE POSITION IS RAISED TO A DIFFERENT GRADE.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK THAT WE'LL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH PAIN FINDING QUALITY CANDIDATES WHO KNOWS.
I HAVEN'T RECEIVED A LOT OF INTEREST FROM PEOPLE OR ABOUT WANTING TO COME OVER TO THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
I GOT A LOT OF RESUMES IN MY INBOX, SO I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN FIND SOME QUALITY CANDIDATES.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU PUT TOGETHER FOR US AND THEN YOUR PRESENTATION.
AND FOR OUR LAST AND FINAL DEPARTMENT FOR TONIGHT, LET'S BRING ON UP THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT DUNK DONE.
I'M ANGIE SAVOY WITH THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
UM, WE HAVE SEVEN DIVISIONS WITHIN FINANCE.
SIX OF THOSE DIVISIONS ARE FUNDED IN THE GENERAL FUND, WHICH RESULTS IN ABOUT $10 MILLION, UM, OF THAT 10 MILLION IN THE GENERAL FUND, WE RECOUP ABOUT 40%, WHICH IS 4.1 MILLION THROUGH OUR, UM, SALES TAX COLLECTION CHARGE OR THE REVENUE DIVISION, COLLECTING SALES TAX FOR OTHER TAXING JURISDICTIONS JURISDICTIONS.
WE ALSO IN, UM, FINANCE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SERVICE, THE BUSINESS OFFICE, WHICH IS IN PART OF THE ENTERPRISE FONT AND SEWER AND SOLID WASTE.
AND THEY COLLECT THE SEWER AND SOLID WASTE USER FEES.
THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, IN ADMINISTRATION, WE MAINTAIN ALL OF THE FINANCES THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
WE PRODUCE THE BUDGET, THE ANNUAL REPORT.
WE DO SOME BILLING OR THE USER FEES AS WE DESCRIBED IN, UM, THE SOLID
[00:40:01]
WASTE AND SEWER, WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 133 EMPLOYEES, THREE OF THOSE ARE FROZEN, AND WE DO TRY TO ENCOURAGE AND MAINTAIN THAT OUR EMPLOYEES HAVE CERTIFICATIONS SUCH AS CPES CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINERS.UM, AND SO WE HAVE ABOUT 24 PEOPLE, EMPLOYEES WITH CERTIFIED, UH, CERTIFICATIONS AND DEGREES.
UM, IN THE ACCOUNTING SECTION, WE DID RECEIVE AN UNMODIFIED OPINION FOR OUR 2020 ANNUAL REPORT.
UM, CURRENTLY IN THIS BUDGET, WE'RE ASKING FOR TWO ADDITIONAL GRANT ANALYSTS.
AND WHY WE'RE ASKING FOR THAT IS WE HAVE, UH, BEEN IN DATED WITH AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF GRANTS THROUGH, UM, ANYWHERE WITH GUN VIOLENCE, ALL THE WAY TO A STORM.
SO WE'VE HAD, AS WE'VE DISCUSSED WITH Y'ALL THE AMERICAN RESCUE, AS SHE, UH, HAS MENTIONED THE MONEY THEY GOT THROUGH THE CARES ACT, EVEN THOUGH THE DEPARTMENTS MANAGE THOSE INDIVIDUAL GRANTS, THE FINANCE IS STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING REPORTING IN THE DIFFERENT GRANT OR AGENCY MODULES.
SO, UM, THIS IS A ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORK FOR THE INDIVIDUAL STAFF THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY, WE HAVE BY EMPLOYEES IN FINANCE GRANTS DEDICATED TO THIS, AND WE'RE ASKING YOUR CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE TWO MORE.
WE MANAGE ABOUT 274 GRANTS RIGHT NOW.
SO IF YOU DIVIDE THAT UP OVER THE FIVE EMPLOYEES, THAT'S ABOUT 54 GRANTS PER PERSON THAT HAD TO DO QUARTERLY REPORTS SEMI-ANNUAL AND ANNUAL REPORTS.
SO IT, IT CAN BE A LITTLE DAUNTING RIGHT NOW, UM, OF TOTAL THAT WE'RE MONITORING MONITORING IS ABOUT A BILLION DOLLARS JUST IN GRANTS.
AND SOME OF THESE GRANTS ARE OLDER GRANTS, BUT THE GRANTS PERIODS, EXHIBIT EXAMPLES, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT EXTEND FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS.
SO YOU MAY HAVE THREE YEARS WORTH OF GRANTS OPEN AND YOU STILL HAVE TO MONITOR AND REPORT ON THOSE.
UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO JUST TO LET Y'ALL KNOW THE VOLUME OF INVOICES THAT ARE PAID, UM, AND PROCESSED BY THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT THROUGH THE OTHER CITY AGENCIES, IT'S OVER 97,000 INVOICES ANNUALLY, 8,000 A MONTH.
AND WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LITTLE CHART, I KNOW IT KIND OF INCREASES DURING FEBRUARY, MARCH, BUT THAT'S COVID, THIS IS INFORMATION BASED ON 2020.
SO WE TRY TO MAINTAIN PAYMENTS WITHIN NO LESS THAN 15 DAYS.
UM, AND THEN JUST TO MENTION AGAIN, IN 2020, WE HAD NOT ONLY, UM, A PANDEMIC, BUT WE ALSO HAD SIX WEATHER EVENTS OUTSIDE OF A PANDEMIC.
AND SO WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE FEMA RELATED, UM, DISASTERS, THERE'S A LOT OF COST RECOVERY, AND IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN THAT WE GET REIMBURSED FOR THOSE OVERTIME HOURS.
LIKE CURRENTLY NOW WE'RE STILL WORKING ON QUESTIONS THAT GOES UP HAS WITH THE 2016 FLOOD, THE STUFF JUST DOESN'T REALLY GO AWAY.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU THINK THE YEAR'S OVER AND THE STORMS OVER THE EVENT, WE'VE RECOVERED, IT'S STILL A LOT OF MANUAL PROCESSING DOCUMENTATION AUDITING THAT WE STILL GET CAUGHT UP IN.
SO, UM, IN 2001, WE HAD ACTUALLY FOR WEATHER EVENTS AS WELL.
WE HAD THE, YOU KNOW, MAY WINTER STORM.
WE HAD THE FLOOD, UH, TROPICAL STORM NICHOLAS AND OF COURSE, HURRICANE IDA.
SO THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON NOW TO RECOVER ALL THE COSTS THAT WE HAVE INCURRED TO, UH, PREPARE FOR THOSE EVENTS.
UM, JUST ASK YOU REAL QUICK, RIGHT THERE.
HOW MUCH MORE ARE WE LOOKING TO RECOVER? HOW DEFICIENT ARE WE AS FAR AS RECOVERY OR MONEY'S STILL OUT THERE? UM, I DON'T HAVE THAT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I'LL CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, GATHER THAT INFORMATION.
UM, WE HAVE AN ITEM COMING FOR THE END OF THE YEAR, EVERY YEAR FOR BUDGETARY PURPOSES AND TO COMPLY WITH THE STATE BUDGET ACT, WE HAVE TO DO CLEANUP INJURIES TO CLEAN UP ANYTHING THAT IS OVER 5% UNDERSPENT OR OVERSPENT.
AND ON THAT JOURNAL ENTRY, WE DO HAVE ALL THE STORMS WHERE WE'RE ESTABLISHING THE BUDGETS FOR THOSE STORMS. AND SO THAT WILL BE A GOOD DOCUMENT WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE COST RECOVERY EFFORTS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING.
AND WE DO ALL MANAGE THAT IN HOUSE.
WE DON'T OUTSOURCE THOSE, UM, THOSE EFFORTS AND WITH THE TWO POSITIONS THAT WE'RE ASKING, JUST LIKE, UM, TASHA WAS SAYING WITH OCD, IF WE CAN CERTAINLY GET RECOVERED, UM, THE COST OF THOSE POSITIONS THROUGH GRANT EFFORTS, WE WILL THANK YOU IF I MAY REAL QUICK, JUST BEFORE WE MOVE ALONG FURTHER, PROBABLY FIVE OR SIX PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT ARE WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW.
UM, CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IF, UM, OR APPROXIMATELY WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE WITH, IF YOU MISSED SOMETHING ON THE GRANTS, WHAT ARE THE YOU'RE ASKING FOR MORE EMPLOYEES? UM, YOU HAVE 274 GRANTS.
YOU HAVE 54 PER PERSON, APPROXIMATELY THAT'S YOU GUYS HAVE DONE A WONDERFUL JOB OF, UH, FINDING MONEY WITHOUT RAISING TAXES.
SO I THINK THAT HAS BEEN SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO COMMEND YOU ON BECAUSE IT'S BEEN REALLY GOOD YEAR OVER YEAR, NOT RAISING TAXES TO THE PUBLIC.
[00:45:01]
ME, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES LOOK LIKE IF WE MISS SOMETHING LIKE THAT? SO THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS AND IT'S NOT JUST US.SO, YOU KNOW, KUDOS TO THE DEPARTMENTS TOO, BECAUSE THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S COMPLIANCE.
AND SO AS THEY REVIEW THE EXPENDITURES THAT COME IN, THE DEPARTMENT HAS TO REMAIN IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES OR THE EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES.
UM, SO FINANCE DOES CHECK TO MAKE SURE THOSE ARE IN PLACE AND WITH AS WELL AS DOES THE, UM, REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
IF YOU DO NOT MEET THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, YOU'RE JEOPARDIZING REIMBURSEMENT.
AND SO I'LL USE A REOCCURRING GRANT IS THE EASIEST ONE, HEADSTART, $11 MILLION.
IF YOU'RE NOT DOING YOUR STUFF TIMELY, THEN YOU'RE JEOPARDIZING THAT CASH FLOW.
SO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A GENERAL, THAT'S NOT A GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENT, THAT'S A SPECIAL REVENUE FUND.
SO WE SPEND THE MONEY CAUSE WE START PAYROLL AND THEN YOU ASK FOR IT TO BE REIMBURSED IF YOU'RE NOT DOING THAT TIMELY AND NOT MANAGING THAT CASH FLOW THAT THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD CAUSE A PROBLEM.
SO ANOTHER DIVISION COUNCILMAN DONE BEFORE WE GO TOO FAR, YOU MENTIONED INVOICING EARLIER AND FOR A MOMENT, A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK, THAT WAS A CHALLENGE IN PAYING AGAIN VERSUS PROCESS AND PAID IN A TIMELY MANNER.
CAN YOU GIVE ME YOUR ASSESSMENT OF WHETHER THAT IS NOW? SO ARE YOU REFERRING TO WHEN WE SWITCHED OVER TO THE NEW FINANCIAL SYSTEM? OKAY.
SO IN 2017, WE CONVERTED FROM, UM, A VERY OLD SYSTEM TO A MORE, UH, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ADVANCED SYSTEM WITH ANYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME CHANGE PROCESS.
UM, IT CAN BE A MULTITUDE OF ISSUES, USER ISSUES, COMPUTER SYSTEM ISSUES, LEARNING CURVE ISSUES.
UM, HOWEVER, I THINK WE HAVE GOTTEN PAST THAT WE ALL KIND OF WORK TOGETHER AS DEPARTMENTS I S HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING US NAVIGATE ON HOW WE CAN EXPEDITE CERTAIN PROCESSES WITHIN THE COMPUTER SYSTEM.
UM, SOME OUR USERS WILL TRY TO MEET WITH THOSE USERS, GET THEM EDUCATED SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND HOW TO INPUT AND KNOW WHO TO CALL WHEN THEY NEED HELP.
THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT WE RECOGNIZE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WOULD JUST STOP CAUSE THEY'RE FRUSTRATED AND YOU KNOW, THAT DOESN'T DO ANYBODY ANY GOOD.
NOW YOU CAN LOOK IN THE COMPUTER, SEE WHERE STUFF HAS HELD UP.
AND SO WE HAVE PEOPLE WE'VE IDENTIFIED.
WE NEED TO, SOMEBODY TO MONITOR INVOICES.
IF AN INVOICE HAS BEEN JUST SITTING IN SOMEONE'S QUEUE OR BOX FOR SO MANY DAYS, WE NEED TO ASK, DID THEY MEAN TO DELETE IT? OR DID THEY MEAN TO JUST, THEY DIDN'T RELEASE THE BUTTON? YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE INPUTTING IT, BUT THEY DIDN'T RELEASE IT.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S A MULTITUDE OF THINGS.
I DO BELIEVE THAT WE'VE GOTTEN PAST THOSE CURVES.
UM, 15 DAYS SEEMS TO BE PRETTY REASONABLE WHEN YOU'RE TALKING PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, 200, 200 INVOICES, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY A DAY.
I MEAN, IT DOESN'T, I KNOW MAYBE SOME VENDORS DON'T LIKE THE 15 DAYS, BUT WE HAVE GOTTEN IT SOONER AS WELL.
YOU KNOW? I MEAN, WE, WE TRY TO WORK WITH THE DEPARTMENT WITH THE VENDORS, ESPECIALLY THE SMALL BUSINESSES TO, YOU KNOW, TRY TO STREAMLINE THE INVOICE PROCESS.
15 DAYS IS DEFINITELY ACCEPTABLE.
SOME PEOPLE HAVE 30, 60, 90 DAY NET, SO 15 DAYS.
AND IF YOU'LL LOOK AT THE CHART THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS 2020 ACTUALLY.
UM, EVEN DURING COVID WHEN WE WERE AT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF US WERE AT HOME OR COMING UP STAGGERED SCHEDULES, WE STILL TRIED TO MAINTAIN IT BECAUSE THE ADMINISTRATION JUST FELT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET THOSE CHECKS OUT DURING THAT TIME.
UM, IF YOU'RE OKAY WITH, AND IF YOU DON'T MIND, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS ON PAR AS FAR AS ROLLING FORWARD, BUT UM, I MEAN YOU OKAY WITH, AS WE GO ASKING QUESTIONS AS WE GO THROUGH EACH SLIDE OR WHATEVER ELSE.
I, I DIDN'T WANT TO INTERRUPT THE LAST PRESENTATION BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE, OKAY, DID WE FINISH THE PRESENTATION AND THEN GO BACK AND HAVE TO FOLLOW YOU IN AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
SO I APPRECIATE THAT IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS ON THE, I MEAN WE'RE ONLY THREE SLIDES IN, WHICH IS GREAT.
IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDES, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND ANSWER THOSE NOW.
I'LL JUST KIND OF KEEP AN EYE ON AND WE'LL RECOGNIZE AND, AND MOVE FORWARD.
SO OUR INTERNAL AUDIT DIVISION, UM, PERFORMS INDEPENDENT APPRAISALS OR EVALUATIONS OF PROGRAMS, ACTIVITIES, AND FUNCTIONS.
UM, THEY HAVE AN AUDIT COMMITTEE.
UM, COUNCILMAN LAMONT CO IS, UH, ON THAT AUDIT COMMITTEE.
THEY MEET, UM, PERIODICALLY DISCUSS THE AUDIT PLAN AND THEN THEY REPORT BACK TO THE COMMITTEE ON TO THE STATUS OF THOSE.
UM, A LOT OF TIMES WE DO GET, UM, ANONYMOUS CALLS.
THEY HAVE TO INVESTIGATE THOSE ANONYMOUS, FRAUDULENT, UM, CLAIMS, HOWEVER THEY DO IDENTIFY.
AND I TRY TO ARTICULATE THAT IN HERE THAT, UM, APPROXIMATELY 5.7 MILLION THEY'VE IDENTIFIED AND COST SAVINGS
[00:50:01]
AND REVENUE RECOVERIES OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS, THIS DEPARTMENT, THE COST OF THIS DEPARTMENT IS ABOUT A $675,000.SO THEY HAVE WELL RECOVERED THE COST OF THEIR SERVICES.
THOSE ARE UNDERPAID, UM, TAXES OR FEES, OR SOMETIMES THE EASIEST ONE THAT COMES TO MY HEAD IS IF SOMEONE HAD SOME PAYROLL FRAUD.
AND SO IDENTIFIED THAT IT WAS TRUE PAYROLL FRAUD AND THEN SET UP THE RESTITUTION.
SO THE BIG STUFF, I'M NOT JUST, NOT JUST UNDERPAYING, YOU KNOW, A FEW DOLLARS HERE OR THERE, YOUR TAXES AND STUFF.
THIS IS THE INTERNAL AUDIT DIVISION.
SO THIS IS BASICALLY INTERNAL CITY PARISH POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND APPOINTMENT.
REVENUE AUDITING IS THE ONE THAT AUDITS, UM, TAXPAYERS, IS THAT WHAT YOU WERE SORRY? NO, YOU'RE GOOD.
AND SO HERE'S A CHART OF THE NUMBER OF HOURS THAT, UM, THE TOP, UH, DEPARTMENTS THAT THE INTERNAL AUDIT DIVISION AUDITED DURING 2020.
SO OUR NEXT DIVISION IS THE REVENUE COLLECTION.
THEY COLLECT OVER $338 MILLION AND THEY COLLECT TAXES FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD.
UM, THE SEWER, THE ROAD PROGRAM, BAKER, ZACHARY CENTRAL, THE CITIES, AS WELL AS THE SCHOOLS, ALL THE TIPS AND THE TIPS LOCATED IN EAST BATON ROUGE, BAKER AND ZACHARY.
UM, THEY COLLECT ON BEHALF OF OTHER TAXING JURISDICTIONS, ABOUT 220 MILLION.
UM, WE CAN CHARGE THEM 1% FOR COLLECTING THOSE TAXES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GIVE IT TO THEM PROPERLY, REPORT IT ALLOCATED.
UM, IN ADDITION, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT JUST TO SAY HOW MANY TAX PAYERS THAT THEY'VE ASSISTED IS 34 TAXPAYERS CAME IN THE OFFICE 14,000, I'M SORRY, 3,400 TAXPAYERS, 14,000 CALLS AND 700 NEW BUSINESSES WERE REGISTERED AND PROCESSES.
UM, I THINK THIS IS AN INITIATIVE THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, UH, WE HAVE 148,000 BUSINESSES THAT ARE FILING ELECTRONICALLY, WHICH IS A I'M IN 86 OF OUR TOTAL RETURN.
SO THAT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, W WE WANT TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION THAT PROVIDES EFFICIENCIES, STREAMS LINES.
UM, SOME OF THE COLLECTION PROCESS, IN ADDITION, WE HAVE ABOUT 4,200, UM, OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE RENEWED, AND THEY WERE FILED, UM, ELECTRONICALLY, WHICH REPRESENTS ABOUT 30% OF THE, OF THE TAXPAYERS WHO HAVE OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE ARE FILING ELECTRONICALLY.
SO THESE ARE THINGS WE TRY TO ENCOURAGE.
SO THAT, AGAIN, IT'S A MORE STREAMLINED PROCESS, PROVIDES EFFICIENCIES ON BOTH SIDES FOR THE TAX PAYER AND FOR THE CITY PARISH.
SO THE NEXT SLIDE IS THE REVENUE AUDITING DIVISION.
THIS IS THE DIVISION THAT WILL AUDIT TAXPAYERS.
UM, THEY AUDIT NOT ONLY SALES TAX, OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE, INSURANCE PREMIUM, THE GROSS RECEIPTS, HOTEL MOTEL AUDITS.
UM, THEY TRY TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S REGISTERED, IF NOT, THEY'LL HELP THEM GET LINED UP FOR THAT.
AND THEN THEY ALSO PERFORM AUDITS ON THE ENTERPRISE END REBATES.
SO FOR THE PERIOD OF 2020, THEY ACTUALLY COLLECTED 5.1 MILLION IN TAXES, WHICH I THINK IS WHAT COUNCILMAN MIKE WAS TRYING TO GET AT.
AND THEN OUR NEXT DIVISION IS BUDGETING, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLANNING, PREPARATION AND CONTROL AND EXECUTION OF THE ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET.
I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS MOVING ON IT FAST OR DID HE, YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT WHAT IT COSTS TO RUN, BUT THIS IS A DEPARTMENT IN ITSELF THERE'S AUDITING GROUP UNDER FINANCE, JUST, OKAY.
I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT IT TOOK TO RUN THAT.
I MEAN, WE COLLECTED 5.1, TWO, 5 MILLION, THAT IT'S 1.9 MILLION AND THEY COLLECTED THIS IN 2020.
SO TO RUN THAT DIVISION 1.9 MILLION AND THEY COLLECTED 5.1.
JUST FOR DISCLOSURE PURPOSES, THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS EQUAL THE AMOUNT OF COSTS THAT YOU HAVE SOME YEARS WHERE YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU BENEFIT FROM IT AND SOME YEARS WHERE YOU'RE NOT JUST FOR THIS, IF I COME BACK NEXT YEAR AND YOU WONDER, OKAY, SO THE BUDGET DIVISION, UM, THEY PREPARE THE ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR MONITOR THE EXPENSES AND THE BUDGETS SO THAT EVERYONE MAINTAINS, UM,
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A BALANCED BUDGET.THE BUDGET, UM, STATISTICS IS BASED ON THE 2020 NUMBERS.
UM, IT WAS, UH, IT WAS A BILLION DOLLAR BUDGET.
UM, THEY ALSO PROCESS, UH, SEVERAL JOURNAL ENTRIES THAT WILL ESTABLISH A BUDGET.
BUDGETS ARE AMENDED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AND SO IN 2020, THEY PROCESSED 548 JOURNAL ENTRIES TO ESTABLISH BUDGETS.
AND THEN THE LAST BUT NOT LEAST IS OUR SERVICE FEE BUSINESS OFFICE.
THIS BILL, THIS DIVISION BILLS COLLECTS AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE SEWER USER FEE AND THE SOLID WASTE COLLECTION FEES.
I THINK THEIR NUMBERS ARE VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL AS THE MAGNITUDE, UH, THAT COMES THROUGH THEIR OFFICE.
THEY COLLECT OVER 128 MILLION.
THEY BILL A HUNDRED AND I'M SORRY, 1,591 ACCOUNTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS AND FINES.
UM, THEY RECEIVED OVER 56,000 TELEPHONE CALLS.
UM, THEY RESPONDED TO 540 EMAILS, UH, HELPING AND ASSISTING CUSTOMERS.
UM, 80 OVER 8,600 INDIVIDUALS WALKED INTO THEIR OFFICE SO THAT THEY DEAL WITH THE, UM, THE TAXPAYERS DAILY AND HAVE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORKLOAD.
UM, LET'S SEE, ON AVERAGE, THERE'S AN AVERAGE OF 35,000 CUSTOMERS THAT FILE ELECTRONICALLY THROUGH BATON ROUGE WATER COMPANY.
AND THAT, UM, COLLECTIONS ARE ABOUT 28 MILLION.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE A PROGRAM THROUGH DHTS THAT IF SOMEONE IS ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, WE WILL REDUCE THEIR, UM, USER FEE.
AND THAT'S ABOUT APPROXIMATELY IN THAT PROGRAM, UH, 1,477 INDIVIDUALS PARTICIPATING IN THAT PROGRAM.
AND THAT IS, UM, ASSISTED WITH DHTS.
THEY WOULD APPLY TO THEM, THEY APPLY THROUGH THEM.
THEN THEY SEND US THE CERTIFICATION.
THEN WE UPDATE THEIR ACCOUNT TO GET THE DISCOUNT AND THEIR BUDGET IS APPROXIMATELY 4.9.
IT IS NOT IN THE GENERAL FUND.
IT IS PAID THROUGH THE USER FEES AS A PORTION OF THOSE USER FEES.
THE OTHER PORTIONS ARE PAID TO OPERATE.
THESE COVERS, THIS COVERS, THIS OFFICE, ALSO SEWER HAS OPERATIONAL AND THE SEWER AND THE SERVICE FEE OFFICE AND IN SOLID WASTE, WHICH IS THE LANDFILL AND THE COLLECTION.
AND THEN THEY, THEY PROCESS THOSE FEES FOR THEM AS WELL, BY PORTION TO BUDGETS, PAY FOR THIS ONE DIVISION.
AND I DID PUT THE CONTACT PAGES FOR ANY OF, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AN OPEN DOOR POLICY THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ANY OF THEM, COUNCILMAN, THE OLDER YOU HAVE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANYTHING ELSE? ALRIGHT.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE, I CAME IN AND TALKED WITH YOU AND WORKED WITH YOU AND YOUR DEPARTMENT QUITE A BIT IN MY WHOLE NERVOUSNESS OF SITTING UP HERE AND TRYING TO SEE WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO FOR THIS THING.
BUT, UH, I APPRECIATE ALL Y'ALL'S HELP AND EVERYTHING THAT Y'ALL PUT TOGETHER FOR EVERYONE.
SO WE HAVEN'T ADJOURNED YET, BUT WHEN WE DO WE, BEFORE WE DO, WE DO HAVE ONE MORE OF THESE BUDGET MEETINGS COMING UP AND JUST FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT VALUE, WE HAVE TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE, DEFINITELY COMING UP ON THE NEXT ONE, MAINTENANCE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, AND THEN THE GROUP, UH, WHICH IS BASICALLY, UH, ORGANIZATION COMING UP FOR DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE.
UH, THAT'S BEEN TALKED ABOUT, UH, FOR A WHILE.
THERE MAY BE ABOUT A COUPLE OF DIVISIONS ON THERE.
IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY OTHER DIVISION THAT YOU WOULD LIKE AT THAT MEETING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
WE'LL DEFINITELY GET THEM ON THE LIST.
I KNOW THERE'S A COUPLE THAT I HAVE, UH, THAT I'D LIKE TO BRING BEFORE, BUT, UH, THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH FOR COMING OUT TODAY.
THANK ALL THE ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR Y'ALL'S GROUPS AND ALL FOR COMING OUT TODAY.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYTHING AT THAT TIME.