A Budget to Accelerate Our Momentum Mayor Jim Strickland - - PDF document

A Budget to Accelerate Our Momentum

Mayor Jim Strickland Presentation to the Memphis City Council, April 16, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Council. As is our custom for the second meeting in April, I’m here to lay out our vision and to propose our 2020 fiscal year

• budgets. Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a

beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” For the last three years, we have worked extremely well together. And, now for the fourth

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time, I’m looking forward to collaborating with you on a budget that meets the needs of our citizens in a responsible and meaningful way like we’ve done since 2016 focusing on core city services—public safety, paving roads, and picking up your trash. Before I get too much further, I think it’s important that we all remember what we’ve been able to accomplish by working together over these last three years:

• First and foremost, our employees are the lifeblood that

make City government work. Over the last three years, we’ve worked hard to show our appreciation by raising pay and offering improved benefits (especially in this budget proposal, as City government will be absorbing the rising insurance costs for employees and not placing

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that burden on them). Now, would we like to do more? Of course, but the reality is that we only have so much money to go around.

• After years of underfunding, we have paved 90 percent

more roads in our first three years than the three years immediately prior, and we are proposing to do even more in the upcoming fiscal year.

• We’ve continued to increase what we do for our young

people and are going to do even more. Thanks to your partnership last year, we initiated what has become a community-wide effort that will result in free, universal needs-based Pre-K for the first time in our history.

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• And, we’ve further shored up our pension fund. For the

first time since 2006, we will fully fund our pension in this year’s budget. That’s right—the first time since 2006. Now, if you’ve heard me say it once, you’ve heard me say it a hundred times—Memphis has momentum—more than we have experienced in a long time. Today, I am presenting a budget that will help City government do its part to accelerate that momentum. Such as, we are proposing a 3% pay increase for public safety employees and a 1% increase for all other employees.

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It’s not revolutionary, but it is absolutely necessary to recruit and retain quality employees and further demonstrate that City of Memphis government is truly a great place to work. Since 2016, public safety has been a top priority of mine -- as I know it has been for you, and is the No. 1 priority we all hear about in every neighborhood in every corner of our

• city. When we came into office, police recruiting had been

nearly non-existent, and we were beginning to feel the negative effects of it. Fortunately, we have hired 423 more police officers in our three years, added 115 PSTs and have 71 recruits in the academy now. We are continuing the long- term work of rebuilding MPD. Shortly after I became Mayor, we were down to roughly 1,900 officers. Now, we’re back

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• ver 2,000 -- and we are working to be at 2,100 later this
• year. Our goal is to be at 2,300 by the end of 2020.

Now, let’s talk about paving—it’s an expensive but very necessary budget item. Just like public safety, this is one we all hear about in every neighborhood in every corner of our

• city. With your partnership these the last three years, we

have dramatically increased paving. But, because of years of underfunding, you can still drive throughout our city and easily see where more work is needed. So, for the fourth year in a row, we are proposing another increase to pave our city streets.

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The next area I want to accelerate is our service to the youth in our City. And in just about every community meeting I attend --and I’m sure it’s the same for you-- someone suggests that “we need to have more productive things for

• ur young people to do”. Well, I agree. Over the last three

years we’ve made summer camps free at community centers, we started and made free spring break camps, added literacy education to spring and summer camps, introduced staffed summer play at 20 City parks after its absence for decades, and the number of youth participating in our library programming has more than doubled. In addition, we increased City youth summer jobs by 50% -- the second increase since taking office. In today’s budget proposal, I’m asking for yet another increase– to ramp up our summer jobs which will be a 75 percent increase over three years.

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Having said all that, we’re still missing an important segment

• f young people. In 2015, Memphis was said by one national

study to have the highest percentage of “opportunity youth”

• f any city in the country. Opportunity youth are young

people between 16 – 24 years old, out of school, and chronically unemployed. These young people are not being reached by our traditional means, and we must do more if we’re going to help them change course. To try and do that, we’ve been working with members of The Collective, representatives from Shelby County Government, WIN, Memphis Athletic Ministries, Memphis LIFT, Moore Tech, TCAT, Tech 901, Boys and Girls Club, Regional One and

• thers. Over the last several months, this group has created a

multi-pronged plan to reconnect opportunity youth in

• Memphis. This plan addresses poverty and crime in our city

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in a new and meaningful way. We will work with our partners to reconnect our youth by meeting them where they are and focusing on enrollment and attendance in

• school. Through our partners, we will try to help them find

full-time employment in careers in which they can grow. And lastly, help them find meaningful early work experiences. Young people are the future of Memphis, and their success

• r failure will define our city’s path for years to come. We

must substantially change what our community does for

• pportunity youth if we want better outcomes.

If not us—who? If not now—when?

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I’m excited about this proposal and I hope you will be too. I look forward to discussing this more in depth and working with you to make this plan a reality. Now, you’ve already heard me talk today about how this budget is geared toward every neighborhood in every corner

• f our city. And I mean that. Ours is a neighborhoods-first
• administration. And like I said in our State of the City speech

a few months back, as much as we celebrate all that’s going

• n Downtown, it’s just as important what’s going on down

the street. Based on the strong input from 15,000 Memphians all across

• ur city, Memphis 3.0 is our road map to build up, not out –

and to invest in our core and our neighborhoods. For far too

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long, certain areas of our city have not seen the type of development we would all like to see. So, in this budget, I’m proposing the creation of two new, recurring funds that will help turn that corner. One, you already know about because we discussed it in January – it’s the Community Catalyst Fund. As far as I can tell, it’s the first time City government has created a dedicated, recurring source of funds solely to improve infrastructure in key anchors of neighborhoods throughout

• ur city. By investing in our neighborhoods through the

Community Catalyst Fund, we’ll work hand in hand with neighborhoods to identify infrastructure we can improve to

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jump-start private development – and to send the visual message that every neighborhood is important. The other fund, we haven’t talked about – and I’m proud to announce it today for the first time. It’s called the Memphis Affordable Housing Trust Fund. For far too many families in Memphis, housing takes way too much of their income. It’s a problem that’s gotten worse. And, as outside funding streams have reduced in recent years, it’s time for City government to step in and help Memphis families, particularly our most vulnerable. By providing grants and loans, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will be used for new construction and rehab of

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multifamily homes, as well as minor home repair and rehabilitation of single family homes for those who qualify. Though the Memphis Affordable Housing Trust Fund will go a long way toward improving our neighborhoods, it will also be a great tool in our ongoing fight against poverty. In addition, this new fund will be a strong complement to our Health, Education and Housing Board that has rehabilitated

• r built over 5,100 affordable housing units over the last

three years. There are many details to this, and we look forward to sharing them with you in the coming weeks and months. With both of these funds, I’m asking us to work together to

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take the leadership role, so that we can grow them over time with other government partners and philanthropy. With the Community Catalyst Fund and the Memphis Affordable Housing Trust Fund, we’re putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to investing in Memphis neighborhoods and Memphians. We’re also making sure that Memphis 3.0 isn’t just another binder that collects dust on a

• shelf. By working together to create these funds today, we’re

shaping a more equitable tomorrow for Memphis. There’s another area that will have a long-lasting impact on every neighborhood, in every corner of our city – and that’s ensuring that those who have made mistakes do not pay for them their entire lives. Reducing recidivism, and helping ex-

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• ffenders get back on their feet, has been a priority and

passion of ours. Three years ago, partnering with the faith- based community, we created Manhood University—a six- week program created to inspire men to build up their communities, find jobs, and create stronger relationships. During this program, participants learn to develop goal- setting, time management, financial literacy, conflict resolution, job readiness and communication skills. Since its inception, we have helped over 300 men help themselves— and in turn—help their city. Recently, because of the success of Manhood University, we reallocated funds from the former Memphis/Shelby County Re-entry program and created a women’s program called WOWS (Women Offering Women Support). This six-week

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program is delivered by community partners focusing on parenting philosophies, health and wellness, and financial literacy. The pilot group consisted of 30 participants who completed 12 hours of training. As you are well aware, the future prosperity of our City depends on the investments we make in our citizens today. With your help, the expansion of Manhood University and addition of WOWS will be a large step towards that necessary investment. Couple that with what our friends at the County are doing, and that means we’re doubling collectively what we do for re-entry.

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Other items we’re proposing in this year’s budget:

• Funding for a new Frayser Library-- Our libraries are a

source of knowledge, learning and connectivity to the rest of world for so many of our citizens, and this will be a much-needed addition for this community.

• Funding for a new fire station in Whitehaven that will

allow our firefighters to better serve the community.

• $2.5 million in additional funding to MATA—our fourth

increase since taking office which adds up to a total increase of around $5 million in funding in the last four

• years. At its core, City government’s job is to provide

top quality, reliable service to our residents, and with this additional funding, we’re helping to do that.

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Now, one exciting fact that I haven’t mentioned – but I am sure you are eager to hear -- is that we’re proposing all of these items without a tax increase. We’re able to do this because the last three years we have been disciplined and efficient with how City government operates. In a normal year, the City will have revenue growth of roughly $10 million. This year—due in large to part to a stronger economy— our return on investments was higher than usual and our required contribution to our pension fund – formerly known as the ARC, was less than expected. That’s right – our required contribution went down. That allows for roughly $4 million less in expenditures. This is how we are proposing to spend the additional revenue:

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• $10 million in annual revenue growth will go towards

the 3% raise for Commissioned Public Safety Employees and a 1% raise for all other employees.

• The remaining funds will go towards absorbing the

rising insurance premium for employees. In addition, other investments and income have also been higher than expected. Chief Ford will further explain at the first budget meeting. I’m sharing this with you for two reasons: 1.) for transparency, just to demonstrate how and where we’re proposing to spend the additional revenue, and 2.) to remind everyone to be honest about the choices we have to make because budgeting is all about choices. If anyone wants to

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make significant changes to this proposal, they must know that they should remove something from this list, cut something already in the budget, or raise our taxes. Or you could adopt the budget today. Do I have a motion to approve? So, as we move through this process, I just ask that you keep those things in mind. Finally—as I come to the end of my remarks—I simply want to say thank you. These last three and half years have been a pleasure and honor working and serving with each you. We may not have agreed on every single thing, but when it really mattered, we all rose to the occasion.

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That’s a big reason why we have more Memphians working today than three years ago. That’s why we’ve been able to give back to employees. That’s why we’ve seen billions of dollars’ worth of development within our city limits – and just last month, had the largest single building permit issued in City history. And lastly--that’s why our city has momentum. I look forward to the budget process -- and with your help, continuing to accelerate our momentum.