City Council - Regular Meeting
The Tigard City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, which included significant discussion and public comment regarding library funding and the social services coordinator position. The council also approved resolutions for fees and charges, and state shared revenues.
About this meeting
- Government Body
- City Council
- Meeting Type
- City Council
- Location
- Tigard, OR
- Meeting Date
- June 9, 2026
Transcript
168 sections
All right, it's 6.30, so good evening, everyone. I will call this Tiger City Council and Town Center Development Agency meeting to order. Deputy City Recorder Bartholomew, would you please conduct a roll call?
Councillor Schlagg?
Here.
Councillor Shaw? Here. Councillor President Wolff?
Here.
Councillor Anderson is absent. Councillor Gaddousi?
Present.
Youth Councillor Hellick?
Here.
Mayor Hu.
Here.
Councillor Robbins. Here.
All right, will everyone please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. All right, city staff and council, do you have any non-agenda items? Seeing none, let's move on to the next item, which is public comments. Public comment period provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the City Council. While it is not a dialogue, either I or staff will follow up to address the issues brought forward in these comments. The calling number is 503-966-4101, and those wishing to comment should call now to get into the queue. Anyone present wanting to comment should sign up on the public comment form at the front of the room. Those calling in for agenda item numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 should wait until the item is announced and then call in. To comment on the fiscal year 2027 city budget, please wait for agenda item number 8, which is when adoption of the budget will be considered. First is written comment. There were 20 written comments received by the Monday noon deadline, and all of them will be included with comment for agenda number eight. And in-person comments? All right. So we have Gabriel Cruz for allotment of time for public comments. So please come forward. And you have two minutes. Good evening, Gabriel.
THIS IS ACTUALLY THE MOST I'VE EVER GOTTEN TO SPEAK HERE AT CITY COUNCIL SO I'M VERY EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. THE ALLOTMENT OF PUBLIC COMMENT, I WAS MAINLY JUST WANTING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW I FELT LIKE THIS SOMETIMES CAN HAPPEN, WHICH IS IF THERE'S TEN MINUTES ALLOTTED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND THEN THERE'S FIVE PEOPLE, THAT MEANS THAT YOU GET TWO MINUTES OF PUBLIC COMMENT PER PERSON AND THEN I'M PREPPING A TWO-MINUTE SPEECH TO TALK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT I MIGHT CARE ABOUT. But if seven people, for instance, like last week, decide to sign up, then that gets cut down to one minute and then you have to bring that amount of time down and suddenly this thing that you've prepared that you've wanted to try and present that you feel like is a very nuanced point can be a little bit difficult to do. I've also been keeping track of my time. It's about 30 seconds now, just this opening, and I didn't even introduce myself. AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HALF OF THE TIME GONE FROM LAST TIME. SO IT MAKES IT PRETTY DIFFICULT. I APPRECIATE THE IDEA THAT YOU CAN PUT FORWARD WRITTEN COMMENT AND THAT YOU CAN BE A LITTLE BIT MORE VERBOSE, TALK THROUGH A MORE EXPANSIVE POINT, BUT I JUST FEEL LIKE IT WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT BETTER FOR FUTURE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS IF WE CAN HAVE LIKE A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME THAT YOU'RE TALKING FOR AND NOT GET CUT OFF BECAUSE IT FEELS VERY FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU CARE PASSIONATELY ABOUT A SUBJECT AND THEN YOU'RE TOLD THAT YOUR TIME IS UP HALFWAY THROUGH A POINT THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE. So appreciate it. I'll talk with you all later.
Yeah, thank you. All right, so. It's fine, it's fine. All right, thank you. So let's move on to phone or video testimony. Mr. Miller, are there any callers in the queue for phone or video testimony?
We do not have anybody in the queue.
Thank you. All right, so next item on the agenda, City Manager Report. Acting City Manager Rager will provide a brief report. Good evening.
Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Council. We'll get a slide up here in just a second. I think.
One second, sir. Sorry.
No worries. I'll start talking before that comes up. There's a couple of things we're reporting on this month, the month of June, some things being offered by the city. First, our municipal court is once again offering free weddings in June. This is open to all couples who want to celebrate their special day, and this is making it more accessible for our community. The second is the summer reading program offered by our library. This is an annual program. This encourages readers of all ages to explore new stories, stay engaged throughout the summer, and discover all the library has to offer. So these programs are just a couple of ways of how city services can help create connection, learning, and lasting memories for Tigard residents. That's my report.
Thank you, Acting City Manager Rager. Any questions or comments? All right, seeing none, let's move on. All right, so let's move on to item number five, which is public hearing, adoption of fiscal year 2027 fees and charges schedule. I will open the public hearing. Anyone may testify by phone, video, or in person. I may call now to get into the queue by calling 503-966-4101. And we will invite our finance director, Kane, to present a staff report. Good evening.
GOOD EVENING MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY. FOR THE RECORD MY NAME IS ERIC KING AND JOINING ME IS BUDGET MANAGER JAMES KENNEDY WHO WILL BE ALSO ABLE TO ANSWER ANY TECHNICAL QUESTIONS ALONG THE WAY. WE COULD PULL UP THE POWERPOINT PLEASE. BEFORE WE JUMP INTO ANY OF THE DETAILS, I WANT TO GIVE A BRIEF PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. FOR THE FEES AND CHARGES SCHEDULE, I WANT TO SHARE THAT THE LOOK AND FEEL OF THE DOCUMENT IS VERY DIFFERENT, SO FOR MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE LOOKING AT OUR FEES AND CHARGES SCHEDULE, THE REASON WHY THE FORMAT IS DIFFERENT IS BECAUSE IT IS THE CITY'S EFFORT TO BECOME COMPLIANT WITH THE ADA WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES. WHICH IS TO ENSURE THAT ALL OF OUR ONLINE MATERIALS ARE ACCESSIBLE. THIS IS A FEDERAL REQUIREMENT AND PART OF A BROADER CITYWIDE EFFORT TO MAKE OUR WEB CONTENT MORE ACCESSIBLE. MR. MILLER, IF WE COULD MOVE TWO SLIDES. GREAT. THANK YOU. All right, so now I'll go into some of the meat and bones of the staff presentation. So tonight I'll be going over some of the key highlights that are included in the fees and charges schedule, which were included into the agenda packet tonight. And so to provide some context, the vast majority of the city's fees and charges are tied to indices per Tigard Municipal Code. The first important index to cover is CPI, or Consumer Price Index, specifically for the all-urban consumers in the West Area, which is the index that we use for our region. And so this is the data that we use specifically from January to December 2025. And for that time period, the index was 2.71%. So this index is used to apply an inflationary increase to those items listed just below it. So specifically parking permits, business licenses, and then staff is also recommending applying this inflationary increase for planning and land use fees. And then lastly, Tiger Municipal Code 11.04 applies a factor to CPI to determine solid waste rates, which is based on a blended profit margin by the city's two franchise solid waste providers, which nets out to 3.375% based on those factors. NEXT, THE SEATTLE CONSTRUCTION COST INDEX IS USED TO DETERMINE THE INFLATIONARY FACTORS FOR A NUMBER OF FEES THAT ARE TIED TO DEVELOPMENT. SO FOR THIS, WE DO A 12-MONTH LOOKBACK, AND THAT'S FROM APRIL 25 TO MARCH 2026. AND FOR THAT TIME PERIOD, THIS WAS ACTUALLY A NEGATIVE NUMBER, OUR 2.93%. HOWEVER, THE MUNICIPAL CODE STIPULATES A FLOOR OF 0%, SO THOSE FEES WILL NOT BE ADJUSTED FOR THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR. The only exception would be for the street maintenance fee, which has a floor of 2% per Tiger Municipal Code 15.20. Next, the recommendation for water rate increase is a 2% rate increase, and this is based on the water rate study that Council adopted back in 2021. Notably, this rate increase is below the annual inflation. However, as we presented in the budget presentation back in May, in the short-term, water funds are expected to stay above minimum reserves, but a new rate study is about to kick off this year. The tire right-of-way fees is recommended to increase by 3%, which has been a historic annual increase based on a cost-of-service study. And then similarly, the parks and recreation fee, the recommended rate increase is 4.26%, which was based on a previous cost study and has been our historic annual rate increase. And this is also slated to be updated over the next year. If we can move over to the next slide, please. SO THESE NEXT SET OF RATE INCREASES, THESE ARE TIED SPECIFICALLY TO RATES THAT ARE IMPOSED BY OTHER JURISDICTIONS. AND SO AS YOU CAN SEE ABOVE, CLEAN WATER SERVICES HAS REGIONAL RATES THAT THE CITY HAS TO AGREE TO INCREASE OUR RATES BY PER OUR INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT. AND THESE RATE INCREASES WERE ADOPTED BY THE CLEAN WATER SERVICES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS THIS MORNING. AND SO THE RATE INCREASE ENDS UP BEING 2.7% INCREASE FOR THE SANITARY SEWER FEE CONNECTIONS, THE WATER QUALITY AND WATER QUANTITY FEES. 4% increase for sanitary sewer base and use charges 4% increase for storm and surface water service and then 6% for regional stormwater management charge units for new development And then lastly on this slide Washington County has a eight point zero seven percent increase on their transportation development tax and so just to reiterate these are increases again that are imposed by other jurisdictions that the city does not have control over and
BUT WE DO BILL 4.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE IMPACT TO THE UTILITY BILL FOR THE AVERAGE RESIDENT. SO THE AVERAGE RATE INCREASES ABOUT A $4.45 INCREASE PER MONTH, OF WHICH $2.58 ARE TIED TO INCREASES FROM CLEAN WATER SERVICES FOR SEWER AND STORM WATER. I'm going to the next slide, please. On the solid waste side, customers that use the largest residential cart, 90 gallons, that is the biggest cart you can get for residential services. They would expect to see about $1.82 increase on their bill. And for customers that receive the bill for every two months, it would be $3.64. Next slide, please. And this is our last slide, and this shows the expected price increase for business license. We're using that 2.7% inflationary increase, and so that would increase business license between $3 and $42 per year based on the size of business. And that concludes the staff report, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Finance Director King. Let's move on first to public testimony. There are no written comments received for this item by noon Monday. Mr. Miller, are there any callers in the queue to testify on this item?
Not on this item, no.
All right. Deputy City Recorder Bartholomew, has anyone signed up to speak in person for this item?
None signed up. Thank you.
All right. Thank you. So there's a council member. Do you have any questions on... FEES AND CHARGES. GO AHEAD, COUNCIL PRESIDENT WOLF.
JUST A QUESTION COMMENT AND I THINK DIRECTOR FANG YOU MENTIONED IT WHEN YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THE STREET MAINTENANCE FEES BUT JUST FOR THE RECORD THAT THE STREET MAINTENANCE FEE PROCESS IS STILL ONGOING AND THEN ALSO SDC'S FOR RIVER TERRORIST 2.0 WILL ALSO BE ADDRESSED AS WELL IN A FUTURE DATE. SO I JUST WANTED CLARIFICATION.
Yes, that's correct, and an important thing to note is that for the street maintenance fee, I know there have been previous conversations about a new methodology. This is not reflective of a new methodology quite yet. This is the same methodology with the 2% floor.
Any other, oh, Councillor Robbins, questions?
Thank you. Just to clarify, like for clean water services and also the waste pickup, the garbage and recycling, those fees are set by the individual vendors, right? And so we're not tacking on like a profit that we could then move that money. Those fees are set. Is that correct? I don't want to confuse it too much. I just want to point out that some of these, like clean water services came last week and told us what those rates were going to be in the future. we don't have a lot of power over that.
That is correct on the clean water services fees. Thank you. The solid waste rates are slightly different. So the Tigard Municipal Code sets that the solid franchise rate haulers can have a profit margin between eight and 12%. And so as long as they land within that range, based on the CPI, they get a inflationary increase to their rates.
BUT THAT'S PROFIT FOR PRIDE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT, NOT CITY PROFIT, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, FINANCE DIRECTOR KANG. GENERALLY, DO YOU KNOW HOW OUR FEES COMPARE TO OTHER CITIES AROUND US? OF COURSE, NOT GOING LINE BY LINE, BUT A GENERAL IDEA.
FOR THINGS LIKE WATER UTILITY, I MEAN, WE'RE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK. IT'S A BIT OF A NUANCED QUESTION BECAUSE ALL THE FEES ARE DIFFERENT. I COULD CONFIDENTLY SAY THAT FROM A UTILITY STANDPOINT, WE ARE ABOUT MIDDLE OF THE PACK. FOR PLANNING FEES, I think I would have to come back to you on that one. I don't have a definitive answer on that yet. I'm looking around the room if Community Development Director Kirkman would be willing to comment on that question.
Again, Sambo Kirkman, Community Development Director. Community Development Director. With regards to our fees for planning, I would say they generally tend to be lower than some of our other cities. Part of our future work plan is to look at our fee study to right-size what our costs are associated with that. So I would say that the consistent pattern has been to look at the adjustments at about, what is it, We indicated approximately 2.7%. So that's all for this current ask for the council today. And we'll be coming back to the council for further recommendations once we have done a substantive study on our rates.
All right. Any other questions? Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing and move on to deliberation. I will entertain a motion or debate.
Mayor, I move to approve resolution number 26-19, a resolution amending the citywide fees and charges schedule, which was adopted under resolution number 25-20 in subsequent amendments.
I'll second.
Any further discussion? Those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Resolution number 26-19 is adopted by a unanimous vote of the council present. All right, let's move on to the next item on the agenda, which is certifying that the City of Tiger provides services qualifying for state share revenues. And I will open the public hearing again. ANYONE MAY TESTIFY BY PHONE, VIDEO, IN PERSON. I MAY CALL NOW TO GET INTO THE QUEUE BY CALLING 503-966-4101. I WILL INVITE FINANCE DIRECTOR KANG TO PROVIDE THE STAFF REPORT.
GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. AGAIN FOR THE RECORD, FINANCE DIRECTOR KANG. JOINING ME AGAIN IS BUDGET MANAGER JAMES KENNEDY. So if we can pull up the slides, please. If we can move, go ahead and just move to slide number four. So for the staff report, the first on this order of business is to certify that the city provides services in order to receive state shared revenues. So these are revenues from cigarette, gas, and liquor tax. The city provides six of the required services to qualify to receive state shared revenues, which are police services, street construction, maintenance, and lighting. SANITARY SEWER AND STORM WATER MANAGEMENT, PLANNING, ZONING AND SUBDIVISION CONTROL, AND WATER QUALITY. THE ONLY SERVICES THAT THE CITY DOES NOT PROVIDE UNDER THE CRITERIA IS FIRE SERVICE, WHICH IS PROVIDED BY TWELTON VALLEY FIRE AND RESCUE. Additionally, the Budget Committee held a hearing, public hearing, and also proved that the city certifies that it meets requirements under ORS 221.760 to receive state shared revenue on May 18th, 2026, which fulfills a requirement under ORS 221.770, Section 1B, which is to hold a public hearing with the Budget Committee. So staff recommendation is to prove that the resolution certifying that the City of Tigard provides the services required to receive state-shared revenue as outlined in ORS 221.760. And that concludes the staff report on this item.
Thank you. Let's move on to public testimony. There were no written comment received for this item by noon Monday. Mr. Miller, are there any callers in the queue to testify on this item?
We do not have any callers to testify on this item, Mayor.
Thank you. Deputy City Recorder Bartholomew, has anyone signed up to speak in person on this item?
None have signed up. Thank you.
All right. So, Council Members, any questions? All right. I will close the public hearing. Council's deliberation.
Mayor, I move to approve Resolution No. 26-20, a resolution certifying that the City of Tigard PROVIDE SERVICES QUALIFYING FOR STATE SHARED REVENUES.
SECONDED. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED SAY NAY. RESOLUTION NUMBER 20. AYE. Resolution number 26-20 is adopted by a unanimous vote of the council present. All right, let's move on to item number seven, which is public hearing on declare the city's election to receive state revenue sharing. and I will open the public hearing. Anyone may testify by phone, video, or in person on this item, and may call now to gain the cue by calling 503-966-4101, and Finance Director Kang will provide the staff report. THANK YOU AGAIN.
FOR THE RECORD, JOINING ME IS BUDGET MANAGER JAMES KENNEDY. THIS NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS RELATED TO THE CITY NOW TO ELECT TO RECEIVE STATE SHARED REVENUE AND TO DISTINGUISH FROM THE PREVIOUS ACTION WHICH IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE CITY IS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE REVENUES. THESE ARE THE SAME REVENUES FROM CIGARETTE, GAS AND LIQUOR TAXES. ADDITIONALLY, THE BUDGET COMMITTEE HELD A HEARING AND APPROVED AN ELECTION TO RECEIVE STATE SHARED REVENUE ON MAY 18, 2026, WHICH FULFILLS A REQUIREMENT UNDER ORS 221.770, SECTION 1B. THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION IS TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION THAT THE CITY OF TIGERD ELECTS TO RECEIVE STATE SHARED REVENUE AS OUTLINED IN ORS 221.760. THAT CONCLUDES THE STAFF REPORT.
Thank you. Let's move on to public testimony. There were no written comments received for this item by noon Monday. Mr. Miller, are there any callers in the queue to testify on this item?
We do not have anybody for this item, Mayor.
Thank you. Deputy City Recorder Bartholomew, has anyone signed up to speak in person on this item?
None signed up. Thank you.
All right. Councilmember, any questions for staff? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing, and we're going to council deliberation.
Mayor, I move to approve resolution number 26-21, a resolution declaring the city's election to receive state revenue sharing.
I'll second the motion.
Thank you. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Resolution number 26-21 is adopted by a unanimous vote of the council person. All right, let's move on to number eight, public hearing, adoption of the fiscal year 2027 budget, making appropriations and declaring the ad valorem tax levy and classifying the levy as provided. I will open the public hearing on this item. open the public hearing, so anyone may testify by phone, video, or in person. I may call you now to get in the queue by calling 503-966-4101, and I will invite our finance director, Ken, again, to give a staff report.
All right, thank you, Mayor and Council. Mayor King, finance director. Joining me is James Kennedy, budget manager. All right, so now I'm gonna, if we can go to the next slide, please. SO I'M GOING TO TURN OVER THIS FIRST PART OVER TO ACTING CITY MANAGER BRIAN REAGER TO SHARE A FEW WORDS BEFORE WE GET INTO THE BUDGET ADOPTION HEARING. IF WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
MR. MAYOR AND COUNCIL, BRIAN REAGER, ACTING CITY MANAGER. SO THIS SLIDE IS ALL ABOUT HOW DID WE GET HERE? AND YOU'LL REMEMBER AT OUR FIRST BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING, I talked about a lot of what I'm about to say, but we were presented with a problem at the beginning of the budget process, and that problem was a $6 million gap in the general fund. And that led us to some challenging conversations and challenging decisions and ultimately a recommendation that we brought forward to the budget committee. The you know how we got their limits we have the measures five and fifty limits on property tax assessments and that leads to Limits on the property tax revenue that the city receives There are rising operational costs one example is health care that's out of our control and substantial And then we have an issue with the spending in the general fund with simply outpacing the availability of revenue. So like I said, we had, as a leadership team, we had several conversations about this. There was direction given to all departments to look at their general fund budgets and see what a 10% reduction in those budgets would look like. Ultimately, we made a decision to prioritize the outward facing core services of police, parks and rec, and library. And I made a comment that we really need to perform these community, these outward facing services really well to earn the public trust. But we also have to make decisions about the level of service that we provide in these services. And we did our best to limit reductions to avoid impacting positions that are occupied. Unfortunately, that was not entirely possible. And one situation that arose is in the library, and you've heard a lot about that. There's a limited duration position. No doubt a beneficial resource, but in the grand scheme of things, it represented an enhanced level of service in the library, was limited duration, and unfortunately was on the reduction list. And at this point, I will turn things back over to Director Kang, and he'll speak more about this and other matters. Thank you.
Thank you, Acting City Manager.
If we can move to the next slide, please.
So as Council considers the budget adoption that is before you today, I would like to provide some additional context to ensure that you have all the accurate information to make the best decision. And I also want to make sure that the community understands the context of the budget. SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET PRIORITIES AS ACTING CITY MANAGER MENTIONED. THE THREE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR THAT WERE REVIEWED BY CITY STAFF INCLUDED PRESERVING CORE COMMUNITY SERVICES AND AS A RESULT WOULD BE MINIMIZING IMPACTS TO SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY SUCH AS POLICE, LIBRARY AND PARKS AND RECREATION AND A FOCUS ON LONG-TERM FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY. WHAT THAT TRANSLATED INTO WAS MAKING DIFFICULT DECISIONS AND REDUCING SEVERAL ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS UNDER CITY MANAGEMENT AS WELL AS MANY OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU SEE ON THAT RIGHT-HAND CHART. AS YOU CAN SEE ON THAT CHART, THIS IS AN AGGREGATE VIEW OF WHERE THE PERSONNEL REDUCTION IMPACTS ARE. AS THE ECONOMY MANAGER MENTIONED, WE DID START WITH A $6 MILLION DEFICIT WHICH WE SHARED BACK EARLY THIS YEAR IN JANUARY DURING OUR FIRST BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING. IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. IT WAS NOT FEASIBLE TO PROPOSE A BALANCED BUDGET WITH THAT IMPACT TO PERSONNEL. IN ADDITION TO THE REDUCTIONS TO PERSONNEL, WE MADE REDUCTIONS TO APPROXIMATELY $1 MILLION IN MATERIALS AND SERVICES WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND. THIS WAS ALL THROUGH REDUCED DISCRETIONARY SPENDING, PAUSING OR DELAYING PROJECTS, AND THROUGH OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES, AS YOU HEARD THROUGHOUT THE BUDGET COMMITTEE PRESENTATIONS. AS PART OF THE REDUCTION STRATEGY, WE ALSO MADE THE DECISION TO NOT TO EXTEND OR MAKE PERMANENT ANY LIMITED DURATION POSITIONS, AND THOSE WILL BE EXPIRING AT THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR. SO I WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO CLARIFY WHAT A LIMITED DURATION POSITION IS. SO THE CITY PERIODICALLY RECEIVES GRANT FUNDS FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS OR PILOT PROJECTS, AND TO USE THOSE GRANT FUNDS, THE CITY WILL HIRE LIMITED DURATION POSITIONS, WHICH ARE A CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT AND IS DISCLOSED IN THE JOB ADVERTISEMENT. When these positions expire, it is not a cut or a reduction, but it's planned based on funding availability. In order for these positions to continue, the program needs to demonstrate both effective outcomes and sustainable funding. It is not possible without both. If we can move to the next slide, please. And so I know we've heard quite a bit of public comments over the past few weeks regarding proposed reductions to the library. And I've received requests from council to provide some additional context on some of the recent library investments and the impacts to measure 34-345. I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW POINTS HERE. FIRST, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE LIBRARY IS FUNDED, WHICH IS FUNDED THROUGH A COOPERATIVE MODEL WITH FUNDING FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY. APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE LIBRARY FUNDING COMES FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY AND THE OTHER HALF COMES FROM LOCAL CITY REVENUES. WHILE MUCH OF THE DISCUSSION HAS FOCUSED ON THE PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET REDUCTIONS, IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE CITY CONTINUES TO MAKE SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENTS IN LIBRARY SERVICES AND FACILITIES. IN THE CURRENT FISCAL YEAR, THE CITY INVESTED APPROXIMATELY $4.4 MILLION IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AT THE LIBRARY. THIS REFLECTS AN ONGOING COMMITMENT TO ENSURING THAT RESIDENTS HAVE ACCESS TO HIGH QUALITY LIBRARY FACILITIES AND SERVICES, EVEN AS WE ADDRESS BROADER FISCAL CHALLENGES. Measure 34-345 was a county-wide measure, and Washington County has sole discretion over how those revenues are distributed amongst local libraries. Under our funding agreement with the county, libraries must meet specific service requirements to receive funding, which includes providing minimum operating hours and the provision of youth and adult programming amongst many other services. Tiger Library currently exceeds those requirements and will continue to do so under the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. And I want to take a moment to clarify SOME OF THE MISCONCEPTION REGARDING THE LIMITED DURATION POSITION AT THE LIBRARY THAT IS SCHEDULED TO EXPIRE. THIS POSITION IS NOT FUNDED BY WASHINGTON COUNTY OR MEASURE 34-345. IT IS FUNDED ENTIRELY THROUGH ONE-TIME GRANT FUNDING. AS DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY, THE EXPIRATION OF A LIMITED DURATION POSITION IS NOT CONSIDERED A SERVICE REDUCTION. IT IS PLANNED ACTION TIED TO THE AVAILABILITY OF TEMPORARY FUNDING. The reductions proposed in the fiscal year 2027 budget will not affect Tigard's ability to meet or exceed the county service requirements. Library operating hours will remain unchanged, and both youth and adult program will continue at current service levels. While the materials budget has been reduced, this reflects a planned transition in which Washington County will assume a larger role in purchasing library materials on behalf of member libraries. In fact, a significant portion of the additional funding generated by Measure 34-345 is being used by the county to support this transition. For those reasons, the proposed reductions do not conflict with the intent or promises of Measure 34-345. The measure was approved to stabilize library services countywide and prevent reductions in core services such as operating hours and programming. It's also important to recognize and acknowledge that county funding has not kept pace with the rising cost of providing library services. As shown in the chart, right-hand chart, Washington County funding increased by only 10% cumulatively over the last five years, including several years with increases of just 1%. During that same time period, costs increased approximately 22%, and the city's general fund has absorbed that difference, which contributed to the structural deficit challenges that we face today. Although Measure 34-345 increased the county's library levy, Tigard is receiving one of the smallest increases in funding among Washington County libraries. This is largely due to the county's decision to allocate funding using a equity-based model recommended by the State Library of Oregon. Rather than distributing funds based on library usage, the county is now allocating funds based on population served and travel time accessibility. As a result, additional resources are being directed towards libraries that are currently unable to meet minimum standards. Tigard has been fortunate to maintain service levels well above those minimum standards for many years. And under the new funding model, some libraries are receiving substantial increases to help close the service gap. For example, Beaverton is receiving approximately a 9% increase. Hillsborough is receiving a 12% increase. And some libraries are receiving increases that exceed 100%. Tigard's allocation is 5%, which is the lowest amongst all the member libraries. WHILE THAT ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS APPRECIATED, IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN COUNTY FUNDING AND LOCAL GENERAL FUND DOLLARS THAT HAVE SUPPORTED AND HAS BEEN REQUIRED TO SUSTAIN LIBRARY SERVICES OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. Now I want to take a moment to discuss library collection centralization, which is one of the key system-wide initiatives associated with the long-term sustainability of library services in Washington County. As part of the discussion leading to Measure 34-345, it became clear that the existing library funding model was not sustainable. Costs were increasing faster than revenues, and without changes, libraries across the cooperative would eventually face reductions in service levels. TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGE, THE COOPERATIVE IDENTIFIED BOTH REVENUE ENHANCEMENTS WHICH ULTIMATELY BECAME THE MEASURE, AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES THAT COULD HELP SUSTAIN LIBRARY SERVICES OVER THE LONG TERM. ONE OF THOSE EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES WAS THE DECISION TO CENTRALIZE LIBRARY COLLECTIONS. THIS DECISION WAS MADE COLLABORATIVELY BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM LIBRARIES THROUGHOUT WASHINGTON COUNTY AND IS INTENDED TO REDUCE COSTS WHILE MAINTAINING SERVICE LEVELS. At a high level, centralized collection means that materials purchasing and collection management will be serviced at the county-wide level rather than being duplicated across individual libraries. By leveraging the purchasing power of an entire cooperative, libraries can benefit from economies of scale, stronger negotiating powers with vendors, and more efficient distribution of materials across all libraries in the cooperative. The anticipated outcomes include reduced operating costs across the library system, more consistent access to materials, regardless of which library a patron uses, and more equitable distribution of resources throughout the county. Additional information regarding this initiative is available on the WCCLS website, and a link has been included in this slide. Because this transition has been planned for several years, the city has been proactively preparing for it. The reductions that are proposed in the fiscal year 2027 budget reflect that transition and are being managed through attrition whenever possible to avoid layoffs. The reduction of two vacant library positions and adjustments to the material budgets are directly related to the shift towards centralized collection and represent a realignment of responsibilities rather than a reduction in core library services. I want to emphasize that these reductions are not occurring in isolation. They are part of a countywide strategy that all member libraries agree to in order to make the cooperative financially sustainable. Next slide, please. And so with that, I want to do a quick recap of what's being brought forward to city council. So over three budget committee meetings on May 4th, May 11th, and May 18th, staff presented information on the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget. Over the series of these three meetings, members of the budget committee, which comprises seven community members and seven city councilors, received information and deliberated on the proposed budget. The Budget Committee voted to approve the proposed budget with one amendment and technical adjustments, which is included in the schedule of appropriation that is before you today. The action that staff is bringing forward to council today is to adopt the fiscal year 2027 budget which includes total resources of $471,938,721, and total appropriations of $220,704,294, which covers 353.9 FTEs, or full-time equivalents, and declaring an ad valorem tax levy at the permanent rate of $2.531, plus an additional 29 cents per 1,000 local option levy property tax. And then on the lower part of that, additionally, there were no amendments and technical adjustments to the TCDA budget, which includes total appropriations of $7,472,616. And then next slide, please. SO THIS LAST SLIDE IS A SUMMARIZED VERSION OF THE SCHEDULE OF APPROPRIATION. THE FULL-LENGTH VERSION IS INCLUDED IN THE PACKET AND IS ALSO AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. YOU CAN SEE THE TECHNICAL ADJUSTMENTS AND AMENDMENTS IN THE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHANGE COLUMN, AND THAT CONCLUDES THE STAFF REPORT, AND I AM HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU, FINANCE DIRECTOR So let's move on to public testimony. As mentioned before, 20 written comments were received for this item by New Monday. Comments include a concern with the Tiger Library budget for fiscal year 2027. Mr. Miller, are there any callers in the queue to testify on this item?
Not on this item, Mayor.
Thank you. And I have a sheet of people who sign up for the item. And we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. So I have seven people sign up. So each person will have two minutes. So Mr. Miller, would you please put a two-minute timer on the screen?
One second, sir.
Thank you. And I will invite Gabriel Cruz to come while we are loading up the clock. Hello again, Gabriel.
Can you hear me okay? Yeah. So it was very difficult for me to stay quiet during that presentation. I completely disagreed with the majority of some of the underlying assumptions that were going on in it because there were some points that were really particularly frustrating for me. There was this talk about prioritization by leaderships and core services kind of being euphemisms for these things that are sort of assumed priorities of what the public wants is what I would assume is where it's at. There is like this talk also about measure 34345 not having directly to do with the libraries, that it doesn't have to do with the funding that all of you are doing, which is true. It's Washington County that's doing that. But I reject the underlying unsaid premise that talking about that is kind of concealing, which is that 34345 going through and then 34349 failing pretty spectacularly, 60% at the current look, says nothing about what the prioritization is of our community. That's the thing that I'm really focused on is that when you see those types of results, how else are we supposed to figure out what it is that people care about if not through an election? I was looking a little bit more at some commentary that was going on earlier. Counselor Anderson, who's not with us right now, interestingly enough. Sorry, I don't know why I looked at you. That's usually where he sits. He's not here right now. But he was getting some complaints from residents that unhoused people are at the library. And that makes other members of our community not want to go there anymore. And that's why he wants to eliminate the social services coordinator position. That's one person's point of view. Maybe it's a couple people. but it's not everybody. How would we assess what it is that everybody wants? One of the best ways to do that is an election, which we did do, where we said what our priorities were. We said what we wanted. We want the library funded. Please vote no on this budget or amend it and get them back in. Thank you.
Thank you, Gabriel. All right, so next person I would like to invite is Taylor Carver. Hello.
Hi, my name is Taylor, and I've been a Tigard resident for nine years, and I'm an active patron of the library. And yeah, I just wanted to say that I've been helping gather signatures for this petition I've been doing, and the overwhelming amount of people, when they talk to them, their response has just been, oh, I love the library. I can't believe that the reduction is even on the table. And I think one thing that just kept coming up for me as we were sitting through this presentation is the lease budget has $29 million and the library budget is getting cut by $1.9 million. And I think that is in counter, it's not in alignment with what the residents of Tigard want. We want the library to be fully funded. We want Wren's position to continue to serve. and yeah, that's all, thanks.
Thank you, Taylor. All right, so next person I would like to invite is Karen O'Connor.
Hello.
Hello.
I would like to read a brief statement regarding the City Council's vote to stop funding the Tigard Library's Social Services Coordinator position. It is my understanding that the position's duration is now being stated as lasting two fiscal years versus two calendar years. The position didn't start until October 2024 and was written as a two-year contract. The clock didn't start ticking until then and to suddenly use fiscal year as the starting point appears capricious. My understanding is also that a few local members of the community have said that they are uncomfortable having people who are unhoused spending time with the public library, and that by having the social services coordinator there, it only encourages more of these people to come in. These patrons are viewed by some as untrustworthy, disruptive, or distasteful. I have been a library patron for over 10 years, and I now volunteer there once a week in a public-facing capacity. I have never in all that time witnessed any unhoused person behaving in an aggressive or inappropriate manner toward another patron. There are not vast numbers of people coming in seeking connection with community resources, but those who do deserve and need to know that they are part of our community and we will help them. The social services coordinator is crucial for that process. In closing, the City of Tigard publicly states that it welcomes all people into its community. Suddenly changing the funding schedule and eliminating the position of social services coordinator sadly serves to reinforce a biased and unfounded perspective that many people have toward all those without a home. Not wanting to be reminded of this statewide tragedy does not make it go away. The city of Tigard needs to walk the talk. It needs to set an example of kindness, support, and connection with every member of our community and keep the funding as originally scheduled through October of 26. Thank you.
And next person is Jenny Stoffel.
Hello, Jenny.
I'M GOING TO KEEP IT SHORT. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR HUGH AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. MY NAME IS JENNY STAFFEL AND I'M THE VICE CHAIR OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD. Whatever the outcome of tonight's vote, I hope Council takes note of what has happened over the past several weeks. More than 1,500 residents signed a petition. Library staff, patrons, volunteers, and community members spoke up repeatedly. The level of engagement is unusual, and I believe it reflects something important. People see the library as more than a building, more than a budget line, and more than a collection. The budget discussion is understandably focused on costs and funding sources, but an equally important question is what residents receive in return. The library's growing use and the community response to those proposed reductions suggest that many residents see it as an essential part of civic life. Whatever decisions are made tonight, I hope the city continues to listen closely to what the community has expressed about the value of this institution. Thank you.
Thank you, Jenny. Next person is Katie Sablek. Hello. Hello.
MY NAME IS KATIE.
HELLO TO ALL OF YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING US SPEAK FOR THE FULL TWO MINUTES.
I HAVE A COLLECTION HERE OF 1,524 SIGNATURES GATHERED IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS ALONE. OF THESE, 1,014 ARE TIGERED ZIP CODES. and nearly all of the remaining signatures come from neighboring communities such as Tualatin and King City. These are members of our community, your constituents, asking City Council to maintain the social services coordinator position at the Tigard Public Library. My grandmother used to say, when you don't know what to do, always choose the most generous option. This is a principle that I teach my children and that guides me in my life and I know that this world can be hard and at some point all of us may need a little bit more help, support and generosity. The social service coordinator serves as a vital link between people in need and the resources available in our community. Eliminating this position does not eliminate the challenges our neighbors face. It simply makes it harder for them to access help. Cutting this role would leave behind some of the most vulnerable residents. I urge you to vote to keep the social services coordinator position and to ensure that Tigard continues to care about all of its residents. Thank you so much for my time.
Thank you, Katie.
I did also submit this online.
All right, you can give it to the recorder. Next person is Matthew Albertson. Hello, Matthew.
Sorry, I'm nervous. So I made a written statement. Mayor Hu, members of the council, my name is Matthew D. Albertson. I've been a Tigard resident for 36 years. Let me first commend you for your efforts, your work and consideration on this matter. This isn't an easy matter. And there's no good answer that leaves everybody happy. But our community is stronger with this funding. As you vote tonight on these appropriations and deciding the tax levy, I urge you to evaluate the library budget through the lens of strict asset management and risk mitigation, not as mere operational liability. This proposed reduction to library funding may appear to be cost-saving, but the library functions as a critical preventative infrastructure. A study by Gilpin et al. published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago demonstrates that public library investments yield direct municipal dividends, significantly increasing community engagement, raising reading scores in the school district, et cetera. I brought the study and whatnot for your educated evaluation. But balancing this budget isn't a zero sum choice between public safety and the library. We do have non-general fund pathways available to keep this vital position the others have spoken about. We can leverage incoming opioid settlement funds which are earmarked for the exact sort of FRONTLINE DIVERSION THIS SERVICE PROVIDES, WE CAN PURSUE COST SHARING INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGENT AGREEMENT WITH WASHINGTON COUNTY HHS TO SPLIT OPERATIONAL COSTS, BUT NO MATTER WHAT THE DECISION IS, PLEASE CONSIDER AMENDING TONIGHT'S APPROPRIATIONS TO RESTORE THE FUNDING, AND I FURTHER URGE THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER SUCH OPTIONS TO MORE SECURELY FUND THE LIBRARY IN THE FUTURE. THANK YOU.
And next person is Brian Peterson. Hello.
Mayor Hu and the Council, thank you for the opportunity to speak here. I introduced myself a couple weeks ago. I'm a Tigard resident. I've been here five years. And I'm here with my seven-year-old who had a really hard day. But he came today because he knows that supporting the library and helping the people who are most hurting and struggling in our community is the most important thing that we could be doing right now. I saw on the wall your council goals for 25 and 26. I really like them. The community engagement, environmental sustainability and resilience, and social equity. I've seen a record amount of community engagement. We all have. We have a record amount of community engagement around this issue. We've received so much public comment. I hope that you've all read it. I don't know. We've heard a record amount of public comment and the vast majority of it is on this issue and it's united. Don't know how you can engage with the community beyond that and as we had someone else testify earlier looking at the other legislation that has gone through and We've collected it wasn't even hard and there's not many of that of us collecting signatures right now We have over a thousand signatures of just Tigard residents. This really matters a lot to our community if we don't listen now, then we'll have to later but I I would really rather us put a little bit of money now towards helping those who are hurting the most instead of down the road. Inevitably, as the studies that I brought up last time and some other testimonies pointed out, we spend more money punishing people who were hurting and we didn't help them when we could have. I want to tell my kid that we did the right thing, that local government stands up for the people and that we listen. Let's fund that social services position. This matters a lot. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. Staff, if you want to provide any response.
SO IF I COULD JUST MAKE ONE CLARIFYING POINT. SO I HEARD A COMMENT EARLIER ABOUT THE LIBRARY BUDGET BEING CUT BY 1.9 MILLION. SO I DID WANT TO PROVIDE SOME CLARIFICATION ON THAT POINT. SO AS YOU STATED DURING I BELIEVE IT WAS ON THE MAY 11TH MEETING, THE REDUCTION TO THE LIBRARY BUDGET IS IT'S NOT 1.9 MILLION IN TERMS OF WHAT THEIR DIRECT COSTS ARE. SO ABOUT 1.5 MILLION OF THE REDUCTION TO THE LIBRARY BUDGET IS FOR COSTS THAT THEY WOULD PAY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES. SO THAT'S THINGS LIKE FINANCE, IT AND CITY MANAGEMENT. AND BECAUSE WE HAVE MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, THERE'S LESS FOR THE LIBRARY TO PAY FOR. ADDITIONALLY, THERE WAS A METHODOLOGY CHANGE TO OUR COST ALLOCATION PLAN, WHICH IS WHY THE REDUCTION FOR THE LIBRARY IS COMING OUT TO $1.5 MILLION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. THAT IS NOT IMPACTING ANY DIRECT COST FOR THE LIBRARY SUCH AS LIBRARY STAFF OR LIBRARY MATERIALS. So the actual reduction in the library budgets for clarity is about $400,000. Thank you.
OK. Counselor, do you have any questions for now? Just questions? Hearing none, I will close the public hearing. And now it's counsel deliberation. So I would like to start by reading something I wrote in the Mayor's Corner that's published in Tiger Life that's relevant to this discussion. And so I will start by reading, Tigers also facing a difficult budget year. The budget presented to the budget committee was proposed by city leadership to reflect the city's operational needs and core services while responding to a project general fund shortfall of more than $6 million. The budget committee has now approved a budget for council adoption, and I want to thank everyone who provided public comments. Most of the comments we'll receive will focus on library funding, and I want to expand on that conversation. The budget committee's approved budget will preserve current library hours and avoid cuts to current field permanent positions, including funds for two library positions related to adult and youth services. The Washington County Cooperative Library Services levy approved by voters last year will help fund shared countywide services, including book sorting, delivery, and other support, allowing the city to leave two vacant library positions unfunded in the approved budget. The approved budget also does not renew the limited duration library social services coordinator position, though council member have expressed interest in exploring regional funding partnerships to help address growing social services needs across the community. That's all I want to make. That's something that's already published in Tiger Life. So council member, do you have any comments or do you want to? Okay, Councilor Robin, go ahead.
I don't know if I want to go first.
Well, you raised hand first, so you go first. I don't want to miss it.
All right. I'm actually really prepared. I have something to read so I don't forget because there's a big audience. I do feel a little nervous. So I've received multiple emails and comments thanking me for standing up for the library and asking for additional amendments to try to find funding for the social services coordinator. I want to say that I don't deserve any special praise. I don't think that I want to fund the library any more than any other member of council. We all care about the city and want to do the best jobs that we can. I very much appreciate the emails and comments thanking me for the advocacy and for both the library in general and our limited duration social services coordinator. Your support is not lost on me and I do share your frustration with our limited resources. I hear the message about priorities, caring for our most vulnerable residents and keeping Tigard a welcoming place for everyone. I ALSO WANT TO THANK ALL CITY STAFF FOR TAKING ON THE HARD WORK OF CREATING THIS BUDGET, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY IS PROBABLY THE BEST CASE SCENARIO IN A VERY, VERY DIFFICULT YEAR. I DID PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO FUND THE COORDINATOR AND IT DIDN'T PASS. I'M DISAPPOINTED IN THAT, BUT I ALSO UNDERSTAND THE CONCERNS WITH USING ONE-TIME FUNDS FOR A LONG-TERM COST. WE ALREADY ARE DOING THAT WITH THE AMENDMENT THAT WAS APPROVED TO FUND THE TWO PERMANENT LIBRARIAN POSITIONS AT FTE instead of 0.5. What's going to happen next year if we don't increase taxes, which we cannot thanks to state law? I brought multiple ideas to Finance Director Kang this week, all of which had already been considered and either implemented or found to be non-viable for various reasons. I had considered tonight asking to spend some reserves or the funds from the parks bond to fund the social services position for a limited duration while we pursue an IGA with our neighboring communities. But with the economy being the same for our neighbors and reports of budget cuts in other cities, I'm not convinced that an IGA will be successful. Then we'll be faced with the same situation in a few months along with lower reserves to tackle in the near future. I think a better solution may be to turn to our community partners to try to help us fund this position or something similar. I THINK IN SOME WAYS THE CITY IS BEING UNFAIRLY JUDGED ON THE BUDGET. MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS ARE RECEIVING CUTS THIS YEAR. THE BUDGET IS DIFFICULT AND THE NUMBERS SHOW A VERY LARGE DECREASE TO LIBRARY FUNDING TO THE TUNE OF 1.9 MILLION, WHICH DIRECTOR KANG ALREADY TOUCHED ON. TO BE FRANK, ACCOUNTING IS CONFUSING. SOMETIMES THE NUMBERS DON'T MEAN EXACTLY WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE THEY SHOULD MEAN. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PLUSES AND MINUSES, IT SAYS 1.9 MILLION AND IT'S HARD TO IGNORE THAT. AS DIRECTOR KANG SAID, A FAIR CHUNK OF THAT REDUCTION IS IN SHARED SERVICES. IT MEANS THAT IT MAINTENANCE AND CITY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENTS ARE BEING CUT OR BEING GIVEN ADDITIONAL WORK WITH LESS RESOURCES OR INSTRUCTIONS TO DO MORE WITH LESS. THESE NUMBERS COME OUT OF THE LIBRARY LINE ITEM, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY REFLECTING WORK DONE BY OTHER DEPARTMENTS FOR THE LIBRARY. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT LIBRARY FUNDING ISN'T BEING CUT BECAUSE IT IS, LIKE HE SAID, BY $400,000. I think, right? While some of that money is money that the city spends, a lot of the cuts come from the WCCLS library levy. A lot of people are saying they voted for the library levy, which means they support funding the Tigard Library. And I understand that. But really, voting for that levy means you're voted to support the entire county library system in a more equitable manner. And when you look at the numbers, Tigard got a 5% increase in funding But in contrast, Aloha got 170% increase in funding from WCCLS. That's that equity piece. Tigard's getting the lowest increase at 5%. But library costs increased this year by 10%. So really, if you look at that, that's a 5% cut from the county. I REALIZE IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE VOTING FOR AND IT CAN BE REALLY CONFUSING BUT THE NUMBERS WERE OUT THERE AND THAT'S WHY JUST TO CLARIFY WE'VE BEEN GIVING THESE COMMENTS OF TALK TO YOUR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABOUT THIS BECAUSE THAT WHOLE HALF OF IT IS TOTALLY OUTSIDE OF OUR HANDS. WE CANNOT CONTROL THAT AND IT'S HARD TO MAKE UP THOSE FUNDS WITH OUR CURRENT BUDGET. I do want to remind everyone, let's not forget about the major physical upgrades the library received this year. The library was closed for multiple weeks in the spring while the roof and HVA system were replaced. Those were major capital improvements to the library building that show the city's love and support of the library. I'm very, very proud to see our beautiful library that is a great resource for our residents. I understand the financial concerns regarding the police and public works bond that failed, and we heard you that that failed. But it is painful to hear comments that basically say police and public works employees don't deserve to have upgraded working conditions. All of our employees deserve to work in safe, comfortable facilities that meet their professional needs. I fully support funding the police department, public works, and our many other departments that do important work in the city. We should not be pitting departments against each other or saying that one department is getting an unfair advantage in funding. I understand the frustration with losing Wren, but we do not have the funds to pay her salary and benefits. Benefits costs went up 12% this year. I HOPE WE CAN FIND AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION THAT WILL NOT COME WHOLLY FROM THE GENERAL FUND. IN CONCLUSION, I'M NOT HAPPY WITH THIS BUDGET AND I WISH IT WAS DIFFERENT. UNDERSTANDING THE RESTRICTIONS WE'RE FACING, I WILL VOTE WITH COUNCIL TO APPROVE IT.
YOU CAN EXPRESS WITH NONVOBAL EXPRESSION BUT PLEASE WE HAVE TO KEEP GOING. ANY OTHER COUNCIL MEMBER? COUNCIL PRESIDENT WOLF YOU WANT TO GO FIRST?
THANK YOU MAYOR. TO HAVE PREPARED COMMENTS. AND I ALSO LIKE COUNSELOR ROBINS WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR LIBRARY STAFF, OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT HAVE CONTINUED TO ADVOCATE FOR RENEWING THE LIMITED DURATION SOCIAL SERVICES POSITION. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT REN HAS SERVED OUR COMMUNITY WELL. As Director Kang noted in the presentation, with rising costs and stagnant revenues, we face the $6 million gap. Council was clear about ensuring core services, and I understand from you all we could debate what core services means. But we maintained the focus and developing a sustainable budget as we move forward. The need for rent and utility assistance as well as homelessness services clearly exists in Tigard. Like Councilor Shaw brought up during our budget committee process, I was curious about what opportunities could be to partner with our existing organizations that directly provide these services. I visited Community Actions Office in Tigard, which is co-located at the Washington County Women's Infant and Children's Services Facility on Durham and 99. This is one of three multi-service centers that they staff in Washington County. Their office has regular business week hours and average serving 185 people per month last quarter. Based on my conversation with staff, I am encouraged that nonprofits like Community Action have the staffing capacity and the resources to support the needs in Tigard. Collaboration regarding a location will be needed as part of that conversation. I strongly believe that the City must collaborate with our nonprofit and our government agencies to partner to deliver these much needed social services in Tigard. This is nothing new from me. I have been asking for this since last fall. We must also be intentional about leveraging the financial resources that exist within these organizations These are our public dollars that have been sent towards these organizations to support communities like Tigard. We have the opportunity to serve our community while being effective with public dollars. So I urge city leadership to pursue these options, meet with community action, and with that in mind, I will vote in favor of the budget presented. Thank you.
Thank you.
Councilor Guzzi. Thank you, Mayor. There's a quotation. I don't remember who it's attributed to, but the library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life. It's not an optional amenity. It provides education, access to information, lifelong learning for every member of our community. When, you know, we're faced with a difficult budget discussion, I believe that protecting the investments that expand knowledge and opportunity for our community should be prioritized. Cutting library hospitals during the plague.
Okay. Youth Councilor Halleck.
I'd like to speak to my council tonight rather than the people in this room because the people in this room know what they want. If you don't budget is proposing, why are we voting? Why are we planning to vote yes? We have until June 30th to get this done. That's three weeks. We have people who care. We have a community. And we can take money from other places and temporarily fund this position as we speak to our local nonprofits and our sponsors and we figure this out. Because this room is full of people who care about the library. This room is full of people who care about their community. This room is full of people who voted for their library. The paper of over 1,000 people in our city is full of people who care about this library. And we need to vote for what we believe in, not vote for keeping the peace on the council. We need to keep our city's trust. I CAN'T VOTE ON THIS MATTER BECAUSE IT'S BUDGET BUT I'M URGING ALL OF YOU WHO BELIEVE IN FUNDING THE LIBRARY TO VOTE FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN TONIGHT.
THANK YOU.
I APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT AND IN MY NEARLY SIX YEARS I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY INDIVIDUALS SO I WANT TO PROVIDE THAT AND I REALLY DO HOPE THAT YOU ALL WORK WITH US THIS SUMMER AS WE WORK TOWARDS THE LIBRARY FUNDING AND ensuring that we continue this great service for Tigard. As mentioned, it is indeed limited duration. It's not a reduction. It's a planned action. I myself have been one of those limited duration employees in my time. I do appreciate Council President Wolf mentioning the intergovernmental agreement. I really do think we can get to that agreement where we can work with our nonprofits who do this work to fund the position and work to make sure it's full-time and not limited duration, because I think that's the ultimate goal. We can put a stopgap measure in place, but it's just that. And so I would love to work with the council, continue to work with staff, really appreciate staff and all the work that they've done. But I do think there is a solution here that we could come to. And with that, I would like to say thank you very much to my fellow councillors and pass it back to the mayor.
Thank you. Councillor Schlack.
Mayor, I move to approve resolution number 26-22, a resolution of the City of Tigard adopting the approved budget with adjustments, making appropriations, declaring the ad valorem tax levy, and classifying the levy as provided by ORS 310.0602 for fiscal year 2027. I'll second.
All right, the motion be moved and second. Any further discussion? All right. Those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Nay. All right. So the resolution number 2622 is adopted by a majority vote of the council. Thank you. All right, so let's move on to adoption of the TCDA fiscal year 2027 budget with adjustment, making appropriation and imposing on categorized taxes. All right, so let's move to Town Center Development Agency. All right, I will open the public hearing. Anyone may testify by phone, video, in person, and may call now to get into the queue now by calling 503-966-4101. And Finance Director Kang will provide the staff report.
Thank you, Council, Mayor and Council. For the record, Finance Director Kang. SO IF WE COULD ACTUALLY MOVE OVER TO SLIDE NUMBER 13, PLEASE. SO THE STAFF REPORT ON THIS SECTION IS FAIRLY BRIEF. SO THE TOWN CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY BUDGET WAS PRESENTED TO THE BUDGET COMMITTEE ON MAY 18TH AND THE COMMITTEE VOTED TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED BUDGET WITHOUT AMENDMENTS AND STAFF DID NOT HAVE ANY TECHNICAL ADJUSTMENTS THAT WERE PROPOSED. Staff recommendation is to adopt the approved budget that sets appropriations at $7,472,616. And that concludes the staff report.
Thank you, Finance Director Kane. Let's move on to public testimony. There were no written comments received for this item by noon Monday. Mr. Miller, are there any callers in the queue to testify on this item?
We do have a caller, Mayor.
Alright, would you please patch in the color and put a 2 minute timer?
Thank you, can you hear me?
Yes. Can you wait?
OK, good please come. Yes, my name. My name is Roger Pot off. I live with my wife at 11710 South West Anne St. As Mayor Hugh just commented in regard to his Tigard Life article, most of the comments that have been heard over these past several weeks on the budget have consisted of overwhelming pushback on cuts to the library. I want to suggest that there is another way to address the budget shortfalls. We will not achieve prosperity through cuts alone. We can grow our prosperity. we must focus on bringing the city center urban renewal district and the tax increment financing dollars that have been and remain, in my opinion, underutilized. We need to remove the blight. We need to fight to remove the blight that is characteristic, in fact, a qualification for any urban renewal district. And we have not done what we could have done with the funds that tax increment financing has provided. And I look forward to working with the chamber and with the city council and with my fellow citizens to try and stop trying to cut our way to prosperity and develop this city for what it really can be. Thank you.
Thank you, Roger. Mr. Miller, are there any other caller on the line?
No other callers.
Okay, thank you. Deputy Senior Recorder Bartholomew, has anyone signed up?
None have signed up, thank you.
All right, response by staff? Any response?
No comments from staff.
Okay, thank you. Directors, do you have any questions? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Now the TCDA will consider TCDA resolution number 26-01.
Mayor, I move to approve TCDA resolution number 26-01, a resolution adopting the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget, making appropriations and imposing and categorizing taxes.
Thank you.
I second.
All right, so the motion is being moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion?
Those in favor say aye. Aye.
Those opposed say nay.
All right, TCDA resolution number 26-01 is adopted by the majority vote of the council. All right, so before we move on, I just want to say that this is a difficult budget year. There were no easy choices, and I know the proposed budget required careful work from city leadership and staff. So I want to thank the city manager's office, our finance director and finance team, department directors, and staff across the organization for preparing the budget during the challenging financial period. I also want to recognize that staff have worked to stretch limited resources and look for efficiencies where they can, including behind the scenes work in areas such as IT and internal systems. I also want to thank the Budget Committee for its time, questions, and thoughtful participation. Budget Committee members review a large amount of information, listen to public comments, consider amendments, and helped shape the budget before it came to the Council tonight. Finally, I want to thank the committee members who wrote to us, show up, testify, and advocated for the services they care about. I deeply appreciate that people took the time to participate. People show up because they care about Tiger, and that matters. Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this process. ALL RIGHT, SO LET'S MOVE ON TO NEXT ITEM ON AGENDA, WHICH IS CITY COUNCIL GOAL 2025-26 UPDATE AND ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER HENDRIX WILL INTRODUCE THIS ITEM. GOOD EVENING.
OKAY, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. AGAIN, MY NAME IS NICOLE HENDRIX, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER AND I'M GOING TO BE JOINED TONIGHT BY SEVERAL TIGER TEAMMATES WHO SERVE AS COUNCIL GOAL LEADS AND THEY'LL INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AS THEY PRESENT THEIR UPDATES. Next slide, please. So we're here tonight to provide a progress report on the council goals for 2025-26. This briefing includes key accomplishments since the last staff report we provided back in October and looking forward to opportunities ahead. Many of the topics have or will come before council in more depth at some point, so the briefing is meant to be more high level. We are available after the presentation to answer any questions you might have or receive guidance based on the report we provided. Next slide. So as you know, our council goals include creating housing opportunities for current and future residents, elevating economic opportunities for current and future residents, cultivating Tigard as a great place to live, work, and play, and to deliver resilient, sustainable, and well-maintained facilities that provide reliable and efficient services to our community. So within each of these goals are specific strategies and outcomes, which our leads will reference during their updates. And with that, I'll hand it over to our housing planner, Miller, to kick us off with the housing goal update. And there she is.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Trinity Miller, and I am the housing planner for the City of Tigard. Next slide, please. Strategy 1.1 of Council's housing goal is to develop an inclusive housing strategy that increases the variety of housing types while balancing the infrastructure capacity needs of the city. Successful outcomes of this strategy include adopting a housing capacity analysis, adoption of a housing production strategy, adoption of the River Terrace 2.0 community plan and housing policy set, and expanding the affordable homeownership program to at least three more households, including the preservation of Housing Authority Section 18 dispositions. Next slide, please. Recent strategy accomplishments include the housing plan was awarded a DLCD grant and the project kicked off earlier this month with consultant support. Concurrent with the Tigard housing plan work is the housing policy work for River Terrace 2.0. These policy sets will supplement each other and the goal of the housing production strategy and the River Terrace 2.0 housing policy set is not necessarily the density targets but what actions will help us get there. We have also expanded the affordable home ownership program to two more home buyers for a total of nine permanently affordable homes in Tigard. And three additional home buyers are also scheduled to close at the end of this month. Future opportunities for this strategy include the Tigard Housing Plan will analyze land capacity to plan for a variety of needed housing types, characteristics, and locations, and then select actions that increase the likelihood of that development of the needed housing type and making sure that it will actually occur. Next, the River Terrace 2.0 housing policy set will include actions outside of the development code that are intended to address feasibility concerns, affordability with residents, and housing mix concerns all at once by making targeted investment in housing types. These investments might be subsidy, incentives, down payment assistance, construction loans, forgivable loans, or even land banking. We don't know the exact policy yet, but these are the actions that we are looking at. And finally, we will continue to expand the affordable home ownership program to at least one more home buyer and work to preserve the two Housing Authority Section 18 dispositions for a total of 13 permanently affordable homes. Thank you.
Next slide. I AM THE CITY'S HOMELESSNESS LAISON AND I WILL COVER THE HOMELESSNESS PIECE OF THE HOUSING GOAL, STRATEGY 1.2, SUPPORTING HOUSING IN THE ENTIRE TIGER COMMUNITY WHILE ADDRESSING THE REGIONAL CRISIS OF OF HOMELESSNESS. THE OUTCOMES THAT WE IDENTIFIED UNDER THIS GOAL AREA WERE TO EXPAND AND MAINTAIN THE SAFE PARKING PROGRAM, TO SUPPORT COUNTY EFFORTS TO RESPOND TO HOMELESSNESS AND IMPLEMENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING SERVICES PROGRAMMING, ENSURING ONGOING IMPLEMENTATION ENFORCEMENT OF TIME, PLACE, MANNER WITH TIGERED POLICE AND STREET OUTREACH, AND FINALLY HAVING THE CITY LAISON, THAT'S ME, FACILITATE RELATIONSHIPS, INFORMATION, AND DATA SHARING. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE ADDING TWO NEW HOST SITES IN JANUARY 2026 TO THE SAFE PARKING PROGRAM. WE ALSO SUNSETTED THE CITY HALL SITE SO WE'RE CURRENTLY OPERATING WITH THREE HOST SITES AND NINE PARKING SPACES. WE HAVE A WAIT LIST OF OVER 30 HOUSEHOLDS THAT ARE WAITING TO GET INTO THIS PROGRAM. WE HAVE SERVED 20 HOUSEHOLDS FROM SEPTEMBER 2025 TO DATE. HALF OF THOSE HOUSEHOLDS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY EXITED TO HOUSING AND THE OTHER HALF ARE STILL CURRENTLY IN THE PROGRAM. THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE NEED FOR THIS AND ALSO AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF COLLABORATION WITH JUST COMPASSION OFFERING CASE MANAGEMENT, INDIVIDUALIZED CASE MANAGEMENT TO THE HOUSEHOLDS IN THIS PROGRAM. THE NEXT ACCOMPLISHMENT IS THAT WE UPDATED THE TIME PLACE MANNER ORDINANCE BOTH IN DECEMBER 2025 AND THEN UPON SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, STAFF WERE DIRECTED TO MAKE SOME ADDITIONAL CHANGES IN APRIL 2026 TO INCREASE ENFORCEMENT OF OUR EXISTING TIME PLACE MANNER ORDINANCE. AND TO ELIMINATE OR TO PROHIBIT STORAGE OF CAMP MATERIALS ON PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY. WE ARE CURRENTLY HAVE GOTTEN POSITIVE FEEDBACK ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THOSE ENFORCEMENT CHANGES AND ARE EVALUATING HOW THAT IS WORKING. WE PLAN TO COME NEXT TO COUNCIL TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY ADDITIONAL CHANGES NEEDED. WE DO CONTINUE TO SEE PEOPLE REGULARLY CAMPING ON OUR PUBLIC WORKS LAWN AND ANTICIPATE TO SEE THAT INCREASE POTENTIALLY FROM FAMILIES SPECIFICALLY AS WE GO INTO THE SUMMER. AND THEN LASTLY WE ADDED HOUSELESS ISSUE TYPE TO THE TYLER SERVICE REQUEST SYSTEM. WE HAVE RECEIVED SEVERAL SERVICE REQUESTS THROUGH THAT SYSTEM THAT HAVE BEEN RESPONDED TO AND ADDRESSED THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS HERE FROM LIBRARY TO POLICE TO PUBLIC WORKS TO CODE COMPLIANCE. THEN LASTLY A FEW OPPORTUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. WE WILL BE WORKING THIS SUMMER ON RECRUITMENT AND ON BOARDING FOR THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED HOUSELESS ADVISORY BOARD. WE WILL BE SUN SETTING CHART IN NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR AND THEN WORKING TO ON BOARD FOLKS THAT WILL START THEIR TERMS IN JANUARY 2027 FOR THAT BOARD. AND THEN RIGHT NOW WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE MIDST OF COORDINATING LOCAL RESPONSE FOR HEAT EVENT DURING THE SUMMER FOR OUR UNHOUSED FOLKS. I THINK YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS WEEKEND IS ANTICIPATED TO BE VERY, VERY HOT. THE COUNTY HAS NOT ACTIVATED OVERNIGHT COOLING SHELTERS SO WE DO HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS FOR WELL-BEING GOING INTO THE WEEKEND AND THE LIMITED SERVICES THAT WE HAVE THROUGH MOSTLY SUNDAY, JUST LIMITED STAFFING AND OUTREACH SERVICES ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY, WHICH IS LOOKING TO BE HOT. SO WE'RE COORDINATING, FINDING WAYS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE WATER ON HAND AND LET FOLKS KNOW ABOUT THE RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE AS WE COME INTO THE WEEKEND, AND THERE'S MORE TO COME ON THAT. AND WITH THAT, I WILL HAND IT OVER TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Megan, so just a quick question. So the library can still use it as a cooling and heating center, right?
We have to activate cooling center hours if we're going to extend, but it is a safe place and with the updated HVAC, nice and cool in there for folks during the day. Thank you.
All right.
Good evening, Mayor and Councillors. Sambo Kirkman, Community Development Director. I'm here as a substitute for Janelle Hoffler, who is our Economic Development Manager and generally the lead for the next goal. Next slide, please. Great. Council Goal Two of Elevating Economic Opportunities has only one strategy, attract, retain, and grow a stable economic base. Understandably, without a healthy commercial tax base, this makes it difficult for cities to support services provided for the community. The team focused on three outcomes for this goal, development of an economic strategic plan to guide our present and future work, create clearer direction on how the city can utilize transit lodging taxes, and to develop meaningful and proactive support to businesses. Next slide. Over the last fiscal year, we have been able to adopt the city's first economic development strategic plan that not only aligns with the council's goals, but also, I'm sorry, but also, I lost track here, but also what we heard from our stakeholders. We also have adopted a process to utilize transit lodging taxes that both complies with state requirements as well as leverage the use of the funds. This included the establishment of a TLT committee to review funding requests. We've also started our new quarterly New Business Connect meeting to introduce new businesses to city resources and are utilizing technology such as Tyler for services such as business licenses, development permits, and alarm permits. For the next fiscal year, we will be looking at the strategic pillars from the Economic Development Strategic Plan to guide our work. This includes assessment of current economic development programs, determine if they align with these strategic pillars, as well as the guiding values of the adopted plan. But that will move on to goal three unless you have any questions
I THINK I HEARD YOU ANSWER IT. ON THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH THE WORK PLAN, DID YOU STATE THAT WOULD BE OVER THE NEXT YEAR BECAUSE I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE TIMELINE AND RECOGNIZING STAFFING CHANGES OR NOT CHANGES.
LIMITED STAFFING. WE WILL BE WORKING ON A WORK PLAN AND IMPLEMENTING THAT. MY HOPE IS TO COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL WITH AN IDEA OF SOME OF THE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE of our work plan. Excellent, excellent, thank you.
Good evening, Mayor Hu and Council. Rick Ruin, Parks and Recreation Manager. Strategy 3.1 is provide maintained natural areas, parks, and recreation facilities, as well as access the opportunities that enhance the health and well-being of our community and community members. Consistent with our parks and rec system plan adopted in 2022, these outcomes include progress towards meeting our needs in gap areas, reinvesting in park aging infrastructure to ensure parks are safe and accessible. AS WE'VE HEARD THROUGHOUT THE BUDGET PROCESS, ENSURE FULL AND STABLE FUNDING TO CONTINUE TO MEET LEVEL OF SERVICE STANDARDS CONSISTENT WITH THE CORE SERVICES THAT PARKS AND RECREATION PROVIDES. AND DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS TO HELP SUPPORT FUNDING OF PARK CAPITAL PROJECTS BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW CAPITAL FUNDING THROUGH STC'S IS LIMITED AND IF WE CAN LEVERAGE OUR STC'S WITH FUNDING PARTNERS THAT HELPS DELIVER THE GOALS AND THESE OUTCOMES. So some of the accomplishments we want to share with you tonight, we are making strides in capital reinvestment in our parks and leveraging support with our state partners and regional partners, which include Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Metro. through the Metro local share dollars, local government grant, and recreation trails program grant that we've recently received. These have helped us to make investment in Cook Park with the upcoming summer work this coming summer for the accessible dock project. We, as you know, a year or so ago replaced the park playground at Cook Park. with the inclusive playground, and this fall we'll be installing new playgrounds in Woodard Park and Bonita Park. We're also, it's kind of slipped over on the other side, reinvestment in gap areas. Steve Street Park will finally begin construction this summer. As a matter of fact, hopefully in the next week or two we'll start mobilizing. That was funded through SDCs and metro local share dollars. We have also completed planning and design on Baggin Park. When we're able to complete that following the CWS trunk line project, that again will also fill a void in our city with access to parks. That was funded in part with metro local share dollars and park SDCs. And then on the recreation side, our recreation team continues to provide diverse programming serving all age groups with focus on fun, health, and well-being. They just recently had a very successful wellness fair last weekend. So opportunities ahead, as we've discussed, updating the PARF and PARC SDC methodologies will help us to continue to meet the growing demand of expanding the city's park and recreation system And we'll continue to utilize asset management principles to ensure the efficient delivery of the needed and required operation and maintenance to maintain our high level of services that most people enjoy in our parks and natural areas. So thank you very much. Any questions?
Thank you. Thank you.
I WILL USE MY NAME PLATE. I'M THE PRINCIPAL TRANSPORTATION be presenting in, I'm one of the goal leaders for, I think that's the terminology, for strategy 3.2. And strategy 3.2 is to invest in the safety, connectivity, and adequate maintenance of the transportation network, center vulnerable users in transportation investments. So some of the outcomes that we originally set, or the outcomes that we originally set were begin development of a plan for network connectivity and complete systems, begin community engagement for the transportation system plan update, adopt the safe streets action plan and begin implementation of the now strategies identified in that plan, adopt a revised street maintenance fee methodology, and develop an informational sheet for transportation service requests regarding the process and expectations to effectively and clearly communicate the process that city staff follow to address requests. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO SOME OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT WE'VE HAD TO DATE, MANY OF YOU, WELL, ALL OF YOU WERE THERE FOR THE ADOPTION. SO WE SUCCESSFULLY ADOPTED OUR SAFE STREETS ACTION PLAN IN THE FALL OF 2025 AND NOW WE ARE BEGINNING TO WORK ON SOME OF THOSE NOW STRATEGIES. one of which is applying for the 72nd Avenue, for a grant for the 72nd Avenue project. We recently submitted that for the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant with your all support through resolution. So again, thank you all for that. AND THEN WE HAVE ONGOING WORK TOWARDS REVISING THE STREET MAINTENANCE FEE METHODOLOGY TO HELP FUND SOME OF OUR IMPROVEMENTS AND THEN WE ALSO SUBMITTED THE METRO APPLICATION FOR THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM TO CONTINUE THAT PROGRAM FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS. WE'RE EXPECTING GOOD THINGS AND I HAVE A MEETING WITH METRO TOMORROW. SO SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES GOING FORWARD AFTER THIS, ONE IS TO OF COURSE fully implement the Safe Streets Action Plan. Now that's going to take many, many years. But continue to implement those now strategies now. And then also formalize the Safe Streets Task Force, which is consistent with the Safe Streets Action Plan. AND THEN THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PLAN IS DUE TO BE UPDATED AND THE SCOPE HAS BEEN DRAFTED SO IT'S IN REVIEW RIGHT NOW SO WE HOPE TO BEGIN THAT SOMETIME THIS YEAR, CALENDAR YEAR. AND THEN ALSO ADOPT THE REVISED STREET MAINTENANCE VIA METHODOLOGY. ANY QUESTIONS? NO? ALL RIGHT. AND I BELIEVE MIKE IS NEXT.
Good evening, Mayor, Council, Mike Lewick, the current emergency services supervisor for the city. I've got the strategies for 3.3, and that's broadening and strengthening the community's safety and resiliency. Some of the strategies that we came up with are increased household preparedness, expanding our community emergency response teams capabilities through strength and then reliable, timely and accessible emergency alerts, essential services to maintain operational activities and then residents that are informed with risks and how to mitigate those risks. Next slide please. So some of the accomplishments, we conducted as many as we could, but got to about three citywide training workshops focused on senior living communities this time around. We've expanded Tigard's CERT volunteer base by about 15 folks during the spring class, and then which also allows us to enhance their local emergency response capacities, right? We increased our redundancy for emergency water distribution by acquiring some purification unit through state grants and also executed a communications hardware grant that we were able to distribute down to the CERT volunteers that communicate throughout the city for us with redundancy communications pieces. Some of the opportunities moving ahead, conducting more of our workshops to improve that household neighborhood readiness and emergencies, getting more into the neighborhoods through the Know Your Neighborhood programs, deliver at least four to six outreach workshop opportunities, and our maximum goal is to reach about 300 participants. We'll hopefully start that process through the July Preparedness Fair down at Cook Park. Expand Tigard's CERT volunteer base by another 50, and that's going to start in July for their, it used to be fall class, but they've moved it a little bit into the summer months for better participation. Increase the city's enrollment in the city's emergency alert systems, what used to be code red and soon to be converting or transitioning to Everbridge. We hope to have that all in place and ready to go by June. And then continuing to assess our critical facilities and our infrastructure, right? Some of the things that we're doing is currently is working on some programs related to emergency drinking water and some other issues. Subject questions?
Councillor Schell.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate your update and report. And you had mentioned the change from, I'm sorry, Code Red. Code Red, thank you, which I have subscribed to, to a new emergency alert system. Will we get information on how to do that, or does it, I'm assuming it does not automatically roll over, or TBD, and I can wait until the information is provided.
I can answer that. We're currently doing all the formatting that we need to do in the database from from Code Red, so we get it ready for the transition to Everbridge. Most of that will be seamless. However, we will do a campaign to share that with the community and also give them some more information about improving the information that they've got already. Thank you. You bet.
So with regard to conducting citywide training, how can people find out about the opportunities for training?
We'll start to do a little bit more solicitation. We'll start that in July as well. A lot of it is a solicitation from the neighborhoods. And we go to the neighborhoods and do like blocks or two blocks and saturate those communities.
Does the city's website have a dedicated section for emergency preparedness? Yes, sir. Okay, good.
You can find that through the public works and then emergency management division.
ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MIKE. THANK YOU.
GOOD EVENING. JESSICA LOVE, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR FOR THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT STRATEGY 3.4, PROVIDE MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY CONNECTION THROUGH PROGRAMS, EVENTS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES. THE OUTCOMES THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS ARE DEVELOP ROADMAPS, ROADMAP FOR EQUITABLE ENGAGEMENT REPORT. increase reporting via community surveys, polling, and system data, promote recreational facilities and community gathering spaces to the public, and support community arts and events. And so, next slide please. Some of the accomplishments that we've had since our last report out, the Tiger Police Department has hosted or attended over 120 community events. The Tiger Public Library provided 917 programs. And then our recreation team hosted over 60 events this year. And then the city has been represented at over 300 community events within the last year, which is pretty amazing. THE LIBRARY PROVIDED EXPRESS SERVICES AND HAD PROGRAMMING AT LOCAL VENUES DURING THE LIBRARY CLOSURE. WE HOSTED THE MLK DAYS OF SERVICE AND THE PRIDE PARADE AND FESTIVAL. WE HAVE A NEW MURAL UNDER 99W, THE FANO CREEK TRAIL VIADUCT IN DOWNTOWN TIGARD. RECREATION HOSTED KIDS ART PROGRAMS AND THEN THE COMMITTEE FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RESCOPED AND WILL BE MORE FOCUSED ON EQUITY AND EVENTS FOCUS. For upcoming opportunities, we have three more big events. We have Juneteenth, Fourth of July, and El Tigre. And then we are also looking at how can we continue to expand sponsorship opportunities with those remaining three events. And then as we look at 2027, how can we pursue community partnerships so that those community events can continue? And then we are moving towards having an annual report in lieu of the report card, and that should transition later this fall. And then last but not least, develop a roadmap for the equitable engagement report. Any questions?
No comment, but I had the pleasure of attending the first Asian American Pacific Islander Night Market, and that's completely helped by community members. So that's a very great event. So hopefully the city can seek more partnership like that because that's basically helped by another organization. So that's a great opportunity. So thank you.
Yeah, absolutely.
All right, thank you.
Okay, next slide, please. Good evening again, Council. Brian Rager, Acting City Manager, and I'm going to be handling Goal 4. So Strategy 4.1 is all about planning for the future while maintaining our existing facilities in a sustainable manner and with fiscal stewardship. As you know, we're beginning work on a 20-year facility system plan. This is a Very important piece of work. And this plan will take into account all city properties and buildings. It'll address how ongoing operation and maintenance needs will be accommodated and will result in a strategy for how the city can plan for future needs of the organization. Next slide, please. As you know, we recently completed some important work at the library. We had a roof replacement, and we replaced the HVAC equipment. We're also making some small investments in existing workspaces that will enable us to provide additional workstations for current and future staff members. And more on the 20-year facility system plan, we expect that work to be, it'll take, A year, possibly more, to go through that. It's not a simple project, and we want to do it well. So we're able to implement it, and it won't be something that just sits on a shelf. And following the recent vote, our internal project team, the team around the public works and police project, we will be meeting soon, later this month, And we'll be discussing ideas around next steps. And then we will meet with the council as well in July. Next slide. Strategy 4.2 is all about that project, police and public works facility and the bond. So there is some duplication here, but necessary. The desired outcomes are listed here, pass the measure, break ground, convene a bond oversight committee. And as you know, the vote was unsuccessful. So let's go to the next slide. We did accomplish quite a bit on the way to the vote. And the work that was done was in an effort to enable us to break ground on that project later this summer and then deliver the project in early 2028. So that was the goal. And so to reach that goal, that's why we submitted the land use application and then we moved into detailed design. Other accomplishments included a 3D model that was quite helpful in showing the community what the project would look like. For opportunities now that the vote did not go our way, like I said earlier, we'll bring our project team together, discuss ideas, and then meet with the council to discuss next steps. This is really the end of the presentation, but before I GUESS WE CAN OPEN IT UP NOW FOR QUESTIONS OVERALL. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU. COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD.
THANK YOU. JUST A QUICK CLARIFYING QUESTION ON THE 20-YEAR FACILITIES PLAN, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE TIMELINE FOR THAT?
IT WILL TAKE ABOUT A YEAR. I'M GOING TO TURN AND LOOK AT OUR CITY ENGINEER WHO IS THE PROJECT MANAGER ON THAT SO IT WILL TAKE ABOUT A YEAR TO GO THROUGH THAT.
OKAY. COUNCILOR SHAU FIRST AND COUNCILOR SCHLACK.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION. JUST A SHOUT OUT AND KUDOS TO STAFF BECAUSE THIS IS A TERRIFIC UPDATE. REALLY APPRECIATE THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND WHAT'S THE OPPORTUNITIES AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING ALL TOGETHER ON THOSE. THANK YOU.
COUNCILOR SCHLACK.
Thank You mayor like councillor Shaw. Thank you all for your hard work over the last Not just a couple of weeks. I'm sure for this presentation, but a couple of years at this point on these council goals We've had some really great outcomes. I'm personally very pleased about how far we've come on the COUNCIL GOAL WHICH I KNOW COUNSELOR SHAW AND I HAVE BEEN BIG SUPPORTERS OF AND HEAVILY INVOLVED IN. I HOPE TO SEE FUTURE COUNCILS CONTINUE THAT GOAL BECAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE AND FROM JUST A COMMUNITY PROSPERITY PERSPECTIVE TO HAVE A STRONG LOCAL AND I ALSO AM LOOKING FORWARD TO FURTHER DISCUSSIONS ON UPDATING PARF AND PARK SDC METHODOLOGIES AS WE DISCUSSED AT AN EARLIER COUNCIL MEETING THIS YEAR. WE NEED TO TAKE A STRONG LOOK AT OUR REVENUE SOURCES IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN PARKS AND TRAILS MAINTENANCE IN OUR CITY. PEOPLE LOVE OUR PARKS. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE UP TO PAR. THANK YOU.
ANY OTHER? COUNCIL ROBINSON.
I also want to thank everyone for doing such a great job. It's really nice. It's been a hard night, right? But it's been really nice to see all these accomplishments and some of the great things we've done. I'm thrilled to hear about the new families who have affordable housing and the new permanently affordable homes. Like when they sell, it'll go to somebody else who needs that. And I'm excited to learn about the additional families coming in.
Yeah, I also appreciate staff for all the updates and all the hard work you've been doing to further council goal. And just with the bond measure, yeah, the voter has spoken clearly about it, and we need to think, the facility needs still there, but we need to regroup and figure out what to do next. And I appreciate that staff will be taking time to review feedback and options, and I look forward to having a broader council discussion on it. MY EXPECTATIONS THAT WE APPROACH THAT CONVERSATION WAS HUMILITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND WILLINGNESS TO ASSESS SCOPE, TIMING, COSTS, AND PRIORITIES. SO THANK YOU. COUNSELOR?
THANK YOU, MAYOR. ONE OTHER THING IN TERMS OF LOOKING FOR GUIDANCE AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH SOME OF THE COUNCIL GOALS, AS WE'RE EXPANDING THE HOUSING, FINDING WAYS TO INCREASE THE REVENUE AND TAX BASE SO WE DON'T JUST FALL DEEPER INTO DEBT. And one of the things that was sort of alarming to me was the fact that expanding the tax base actually makes it worse in terms of parks and rec and FTEs that we need. So finding a sustainable way to do that, which is hard. It's hard.
Yeah. That's why during our discussion about parks, we scaled it back a little bit. We know how expensive it is to maintain them. So thank you for bringing that up. Any other comments? All right. So thank you all so much for being here. All right, so there being no addition item, the meeting is adjourned. Good night, Tiger.
This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.