The Des Moines City Council held a Study Session on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 to make a final hiring decision for the new City Manager, and to address the city’s growing budget deficit.
The council heard strategies both to increase revenue and to reduce expenses. As the city navigates these financial challenges, the council will continue to weigh the needs of the community against the fiscal realities facing Des Moines.
During the session, public comments focused on potential cuts to city services and the need for responsible financial management.
Public Comments
Several people shared their suggestions and ideas about the city budget and plans to reduce the deficit. One woman asked Council not to make cuts to the Human Services budget. Another said the city needs to make smart cuts to non-essential projects and staff positions. Several mentioned the Marina steps and passenger ferry projects as “wants, rather than needs” and said that only a select few people would utilize those once they were complete. One speaker said the city manager’s weekly report is much more useful and less costly to the city than the quarterly City Currents magazine, which must be printed and mailed out.
Swearing-In Of Chief Ted Boe
Des Moines has a new police chief: Ted Boe, formerly Burien’s police chief. Chief Boe was sworn in with much enthusiasm and excitement for his presence on the force, and he said it is an honor to serve the community.
New City Manager Selected
Council agreed unanimously about which of the top four city manager candidates to hire. They said that community response has likewise been nearly unanimously in favor of this candidate. The position will be offered to Katherine Caffrey, the most experienced city manager candidate. The hiring process has taken nearly a year, but all seem confident that the process has been carefully considered, and the right choice made.
Budget Strategies Presentation
Finance Director Jeff Friend and Interim City Manager Tim George presented to Council potential strategies to keep the city budget solvent if the proposed levy lid lift on November’s ballot doesn’t pass. They showed how inflation has far exceeded the rate the city can bring in revenue without the lid lift. Financial projections are looking very bleak if major changes to revenue and expenditures aren’t made. There is a looming budget deficit of almost $4.6 million dollars.
Jeff Friend explained that capital funding projects like the marina steps doesn’t take money from the general fund. Tim George added that canceling the steps project at this point would mean the city is out the $2 million already spent, and it would not reduce the pending general fund deficit at all.
George also explained that he has been working with staff to shave off expenditures already, and in the first six months of 2024 the cuts he was able to make have saved $1 million. This includes not filling multiple open staff positions. Salary and benefits make up ⅔ of the general fund, with city services making up most of the remaining general fund expenditures. Around half of salary & benefits expenses go to the Des Moines Police.
Closing the Redondo police substation was discussed, though Chief Boe jumped in to say that this would definitely mean a reduced police presence in the south end of the city. The substation allows the two officers on duty in the Redondo area to take their breaks and complete their reports on site, meaning they are spending more time being present locally. Closing the substation would mean a savings of $36,400 annually in rent, but Councilmember Jeremy Nutting pointed out that expensive updates were recently made to the substation, meaning even more of a loss if the building was no longer in use by police. The current lease on the substation expires in March of 2025.
Human Services is another area of potential savings, with $250,000 in current expenditures. Councilmember Gene Achziger said this is the very last area where cuts should be made. He said the organizations supported by these funds provide incredible services to those most in need.
If the animal control contract with Burien CARES was terminated, $100,000 could be saved. This would mean there would be no one to call to pick up a loose dog, though the police would be available for incidents like bites or other lawbreaking.
$40,000 per year could be saved by eliminating watering and care of the planters throughout downtown.
The city could also reduce its Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) to salaries. This could save $840,000, though it would reduce the likelihood of retaining city staff in a competitive job market. Area cities all have a COLA of 3.5 to 3.8 percent.
Eliminating the print version of the City Currents Magazine would save $80,000. Eliminating Channel 21 would save $50,000. The city could reduce its travel and training budget by $60,000. It could reduce the cost of computer replacement by $304,698, police vehicle replacement by $650,000, and vehicle maintenance by $326,225. However, it was explained that if new vehicles aren’t purchased, maintenance expenses would necessarily increase.
It was also suggested that the city could cancel city-funded events, like the 4th of July festival and other popular gatherings. The money for the drone show does not come from the general fund, but the police presence required at the gathering does. Figures were not available for what is currently being spent on these events, but will be shared at the next discussion.
Several ways of increasing revenue were also discussed, including instituting fees for public records requests. This could potentially recover $20,000 in staff hours and costs associated with completing those requests. It was mentioned that just a few people make most of the public records requests, and are currently being charged nothing so that cost goes right to the city.
In addition, they discussed bringing Water District 54 on par with other utilities, by imposing a 6% utility tax. This change could bring in $88,500 per year in general fund revenue.
This conversation will continue during next week’s council meeting.
Video
Watch full video of the meeting below:
