[music] Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the administration's operations and budget budget meeting of Tuesday, June 2nd. We'll begin the agenda with item one, which is a budget update, and it's our from our April presentation. Miss W, um I believe it's who's doing our update, chair go commissioners. Thank you. As you've heard at our January March updates, there are substantial budget challenges that we are facing in 2026 and into 2027. The goal of these budget update presentation is to provide transparency and information to you and to our residents regarding the tracking and monitoring of the county's financial health throughout this year. This is our third update of the year and in today's presentation, you'll hear about our progress from January through April. Throughout this process, we continue to ground our work in disparity elimination and aligning our work to the mission, vision, and core values of the organization. We remain steadfast in our commitment of service to residents as we ensure the county acts with stewardship of public resources. I'm now going to ask Joe Matthews, the county's chief financial officer, to provide the budget update. Thank you. >> Welcome, M. Mr. Matthews. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Joe Matthews, chief financial officer here at Henipin County. And we can go ahead and jump to the next slide. Uh these slides uh are the same format as the last two presentations. So they should start to look familiar. Uh here we see our budgeted FTEES in the first column and as you follow that down it goes by line of business and then at the bottom we do show the 2025 budget um for the same point in time year-over-year. So you can see a comparison between the two years. The next column that we have is our hired FTEES. Just a reminder that the hired FTEES, uh, they're based on if we've been hired full-time, then that would be a one. If you're hired at 20 hours a week, you'd be a five. But that shows you what we have on staff. We have uh six 9,400.1 FTEEs hired as of May 4th, 2026. And that's about 225 fewer than we had over the prior year. And so, as we've talked about previously, our strategy around strategic position management and holding positions where possible has allowed us to bring that number down over time. We have hired over 300 new employees at the county over this year. So, it's not a complete hiring freeze. We continue to prioritize hiring in areas that are critical um for our resident services. The third column is the variance between the budget and the hired FTEEs. And then the last column is the actual FTEES based on hours worked or hours paid. And that actual would include overtime. It also uh takes into account employees that may be uh on an unpaid leave or a medical leave or or something to that effect. We have 432 fewer actual FTEES on payroll uh from this date at the end of April compared to the prior year. I will call out uh one area of difference there is in 2025 we did not have have Minnesota paid family leave. On average we've had about 145 employees on paid leave uh each pay period. That number fluctuates somewhat. Um but that number uh even adjusting for that uh we're still down significantly from the prior year. Uh [clears throat] move to the next slide. our spending uh remains under budget uh as we go through 2026. So again, the last time we looked at this, you had January and February data. Um I'll call out that in March and April, our 2026 expenses are higher than what we had in 2025. Um however, uh much of that is due to non-propy tax spent uh related areas. So, for example, um we had $33 million in additional expenses for Henipin Health and that's really driven by enrollment and uh claims data, not necessarily by uh structural issues in the budget. Overall, the gold line uh that you see going from the bottom left to the upper right is the annual budget for the county and the green line below is the actual spend by month. And you can see that we continue to remain under budget countywide. And as we move forward, uh we're going to continue to try to maintain that uh positive budget variance. Again, as you can see, the actuals are not perfectly linear. We do expect that to eb and flow as we go through the seasons. And just a reminder as you look out ahead to the end of the year, the gray bar charts reflecting 2025 spend shows that we do have some cyclical spending in the county budget, particularly over the summer season, which tends to be a little bit busier. And then in December, that's when we make our annual debt payments. And so that December looks a little bit larger than the other months, but that's been planned for and budgeted for. We can jump one more slide. Uh, as we've seen before, currently the federal impacts on our budget, there's about $8 million in reduced revenues to administer the SNAP program compared to uh before uh federal actions were changing last year. We also have $102.6 million of federal funding that's currently under protective orders through various court actions where the county is either a plaintiff or the state attorney general's a plaintiff and the protection is extended to us. This number is slightly larger than the last time we looked at it a couple months ago. That's partly due to ongoing progression of the legal process. It's also due to just additional uh data gathering that we've been doing. Um I want to thank Beth Stack, our chief compliance officer, and Jennifer Yang and grants management who really help us inventory and manage that on a regular basis. Uh as we move ahead, we have some other slides that will look uh to the forward uh facing numbers. There are three grants that have been terminated. This has not changed since the last time that you've seen it. Um, these are terminations where the county uh was informed by the federal government that these grants would end. You'll note that the first one uh there's about $2.7 million in revenue that we were not able to utilize from that grant before it was canled. The second one, there's $67,000 from FEMA for targeted violence and terrorism prevention that was cancelled. The third grant was cancelled, but we had already fully expended those dollars. And so even though 8.6 million in those grants uh was the total budget before they were cancelled, the county has only had to forgo 2.76 million so far. Next slide, please. Uh these are the anticipated cuts as we look ahead to 2027. And so these are headwinds that we know that we're going to have to address. There is an additional $20 million in anticipated uh lost federal revenues as they uh move forward with changes to how they reimburse us based on the SNAP error rate. Additionally, um HUD Housing Security, we're concerned u that $12 million number is reflective of changes that were attempted this last year. And so we're uh monitoring to see if those will be enacted as part of the budget process as opposed to through an administrative action. uh but they were pretty clear in their intention uh from the federal agency standpoint last year. And then lastly, for the first time, uh we previously had a TBD for the Medicaid impacts to Henipin County. You can see that we're carrying a $27 million potential impact for our Henipin County clinics. I do want to caution that that third number is obviously going to be very uh much in flux as we go ahead. There's a lot of complicated Medicaid uh changes that are happening. Some have to do with appropriations, some have to do with deferrals or delays in payments to the state of Minnesota. And so this estimate is our best estimate uh after consulting with all of our staff in the various clinics across Henipin County that receive Medicaid dollars of what we expect a realistic impact could be. We are still hopeful that either state or federal action will mitigate that, but this is our potential exposure as we go into 2027. And that total then would be about $59 million of reduced federal revenues for uh services that we provide on behalf of residents and on behalf of the state of Minnesota. Uh the healthcare Henipin healthcare system uh these numbers have not changed. Again, their potential reduction in Medicaid revenues is $ 1.7 billion. Most of that is from the loss of directed payments of which all of you are very aware. Um there's also$.6 billion dollars from Medicaid disenrollment. That number continues to be evaluated and revised uh as we go through the process, but these are the the best estimates that we have based on the models from the Minnesota Hospital Association and the HHS finance staff. All right, next slide, please. Again, um we continue to move uh forward with our our budget strategies. is hiring management is obviously one of the largest levers as mentioned. Uh we continue to hold on hiring where possible and allow hiring uh as needed uh to make sure critical services are delivered. We are going to continue reviewing all contracts and RFPs and we're also uh have been reviewing all of our capital projects and again CBTF will be starting up next Monday and so they'll be also discussing that process. And then finally uh one new bullet here uh future planning with the hospital. So the legislature and the governor did take positive action towards HHS and there will be a lot of work to do with the hospital staff uh to evaluate what the future needs are there and to help uh planning around how that uh will work in parallel with the county budget process. And then with that I think I'll turn it back to uh oh next steps our next briefing. Uh so June 11th will be a briefing for all of you uh with the county board and then our next budget update uh will be a presentation this committee on July 28th. And with that I'll turn it back to administrator Wetland. Thank you. >> Chair Gotel Commissioners leadership as Joe outlined we will continue to evaluate and plan for budget savings strategies and monitor our progress. Our teams and grants management office and the county attorney's office will continue to monitor and track federal funding impacts. I would like to continue to express our appreciation for the hard work that has been done at all levels of the organization to work towards the budget goals while maintaining our commitment to the mission, vision, and values of the organization and the work that we're doing to eliminate disparities in our communities. Chair Gotel, I will hand it back over to you. Thank you. And thank you very much. I just want to take this moment to thank staff for all the work that they're doing on this. I know it's challenging too to the folks that are underneath you and that you manage. um seeing some of these these cuts and some of the holds that we're doing on hiring and everything and still trying to do all the work that we need to be done. And I think um I'm grateful that leadership has stepped up though and been doing these meetings periodically so that we know what's going on and we have a chance to ask questions. The other thing is is the transparency that we're giving to the actual residents about why things are where they're at and the budget struggles that we're having as well to that. I I have one quick question then I'm going to turn it over to my colleagues and that is just what are the conversations going on with the state regarding the SNAP the HUD and the medical Medicaid is there any cost sharing discussions at all about how they can help or assist commissioners I'll ask Joe Matthews to >> Mr. Matthews, welcome back. I don't think you should have sat down. I think we'll have some other questions for you as well. [clears throat] >> Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. There are ongoing legislative discussions around the SNAP changes. Uh, the Association of Minnesota Counties, all 87 counties are impacted by those changes as well as across the country. You know, all states are impacted by the Medicaid reductions or sorry, the SNAP reductions. And so, we will continue uh to work with them. Um, I don't know that we have a sense that there's a clear solution at this point. The state did have some money appropriated in the budget this last time around. It wasn't anywhere near enough to cover the losses to counties on SNAP. Uh, but they have demonstrated an interest in trying to mitigate some of that. I do think it's important to remind um ourselves and the public that the federal budget is pretty massive and it is probably not practical that the state will be able to backfill all lost federal revenues much in the same way the county budget is not big enough to backfill all lost state or federal revenues either and so it's a risk that we're going to be managing um it's something that we will continue to bring forward and as we get information going into this fall I don't know that we will have any new news before 2027's budget is adopted it is something know that will be critically important as we move forward and I do expect next session that the legislature will be talking about this topic quite a bit. >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner Fernando. I saw you. >> Absolutely. Um thank you Madam Chair. For those watching at home, we this is the first time that the county has kind of taken on these regular budget briefings. And so I'm also appreciative to staff and just want to recognize that we are in a moment of compressed economic need for our residents and that our workers are working literally very very hard to attempt to meet this moment. Um and there's a tension with uh the reality that we're in. So I just want to express that as I then offer some perspectives. So on the FTE slide, the far right column is the actual hours paid. So that that includes both overtime is the idea that it is offset by the unpaid leave. What I'm trying to get at is um not all FTE hour, especially when you look at overtime, is is equal when it comes to from the lens of the budget. So can you just speak more to the construct of that right column and is there a need to have a a variance for that actuals right I'm I'm I'm just from a from an understanding perspective uh madam chair I would appreciate some insight >> yeah uh thank you uh commissioner Fernando and madam chair um the actuals when we look from budgeted to hired to actuals uh a simplistic way of thinking about it is we adopt a budget based on the column on the left that's what's authorized and at any point in time in the county it It's not unusual that we have not fully staffed up, right? Because as people leave, it takes time to to hire to backfill. So even if you're trying to replace one for one, we're typically somewhere below that budgeted amount. But the actuals is representing the the actual people on staff uh who are there to do the work. And so we look at these three metrics together kind of like dials in a dashboard. They're all contextual, but the actuals does show you and and if you're interested, we can give you more detail on how many of those FTEES are, you know, regular, how many are, you know, might be on PTO. Like that's information that's available. Um, but really what what we look when we look at this year-over-year, what it's telling us is we have about 400 fewer people at this point in time that are available to do the work of the county compared to the prior period. And so that is a metric that's important to manage and important to watch. We obviously don't want that to get too low that we can't deliver services. We also are trying to watch that trend because we're trying to have stability and we're trying to make sure that we're hiring in a predictable and strategic fashion. So if you're interested in more detail, there's a lot more detail that can be pulled out of that column as we go through the process. uh but we've kind of distilled it in this one number here uh just to really give a high level sense year-over-year of what's changing and the paid family leave um only intention for calling that out is it's a question that has come up quite a bit um you know in prior years I don't think we can answer for you whether those individuals would have just been on PTO um so it's just a different category but that that data specifically does not show up in [clears throat] the 9,136.5 so I just wanted to call that there are employees who are hired here at the county that may be on leave. >> Um and so that's why there's some variance between there. >> I see. So, Madam Chair, um my followup on this one is just trying to get an understanding of overtime. So overtime is an aspect of feedback that we've we've received. But most importantly in this context, overtime has a multiplier effect from a financial perspective that the FTE hours paid is not necessarily equivalent to the financial compensation paid for that period. So um for future understanding, I'm specifically interested. I think it'd be good for us to track utilization of benefits. That's wonderful, especially with uh the new state benefit. that that seems like good data for us to have. But specifically, my question was around overtime because FTE and financial allocation or financial spend is not a one for one at a certain level. It seems from this chart. Okay. So, I think I got that. Current impact. Current impact means 2026, right? The financial um slide. >> That's correct. >> So, for both this and the anticipated cuts, I would just encourage putting 2026 cuz we're at a time where we should probably be putting the 2028 numbers. My reason for lifting this up is because I think it's technically compounding. So in 2027, we will lose $20 million of SNAP benefit. So that's I'm a resident receiving money and and there are 20 million fewer dollars. But then there's the 8 million of admin, right? That's that that's those are are those are those is that supposed to be 28 million when we look at 27's budget or is it 20 million when we look at 27's budget? And my bad if I've my apologies if I've misunderstood. >> No, no. Um, thank you, Commissioner Fernando, Madam Chair. Um, they are additive. So, the 8 million is what has already been enacted and is flowing through our budget. Now, the additional 20 million, and I should call out these are administrative revenues paid to deliver the services. So, the SNAP benefits are one facet. That's what's flowing through to your residents. The county is the entity that actually does the administrative work to get those benefits to residents and that's the revenue that's being cut to deliver those services. So it's a significant program with a significant effort to deliver it. We're not being relieved of our burden to deliver it. Um we are being the funding to deliver that service is what's being reduced. So taxpayers will be asked to pick that up for that mandated requirement. So madam chair continue on this that that okay so it would be favorable for us to understand the aggregate impact right so in 27 based off of this it's 20 million of reduced benefit the administrative cost that is listed in current but technically we should also be capturing how much more administrative burden our workforce is having to engage in in order to deliver that same kind of dollar or household of benefit because it's it's it's three things. It's the revenue loss for the benefit, revenue loss for administration, and then additional ad administrative burden on our local government. And as we know, but for those uh watching at home, this is technically all goes to the state first. So from a governance perspective, uh we just want to be eyes wide open on how much it actually is going to need to be backfilled, whether on the expense side or on the loss of revenue, if I'm if I'm um making sense. Okay, great. And then last but certainly not least, it wasn't on here outright, but you had mentioned the hospital. Um, immensely grateful for the residents, workers, patients, legislature, governor, etc. who've wrapped around that. And um it will be good for just us to have um a a public understanding of how that is meant to go because the hospital is a subsidiary of the county and of course the state has outlined a number of expectations for all of us. Um, and so as we think about this budget, by this budget I mean the county budget looking into 2027, um, the way that the state has structured the bill is actually really cool in a lot of ways because the state is saying this is a statewide asset and they're uh, interested in the governance and financial future of it. And so how we how that gets portrayed here will be a really good discussion to ensure that again we're um holistic as we think of 2027. So those are my comments. Thank you madam chair and thank you Mr. Matthews and London. >> Commissioner Lundy. >> Thank you madam chair. Uh just a few questions on I want to thank staff for this continued work. I know it's not normal at least I don't think it is but I think it's probably our new normal at least for next few years. Um is just to have a much more clear view of that. Couple questions I had was on the when you say it's required the administrative for the SNAP benefits it's required you're we are legally obligated to deliver that service which means we are legally obligated to tax county taxpayers money to pay for something because the federal government or the state I can't I think it's a state how the state delivers it right or um anyway between the two I just want to say that out loud that we're still providing benefits but the burden of the administrative side of that requirement now has become a indirect or direct tax increase. Is that a fair statement or am I thinking that wrong? >> Uh commissioner, that would be a fair statement. Um so I I highlight that because I think that more and more um we are going to have this pass through um and where things are just going to flow downward. Um and so you know having making sure that people understand that because the other part is um come from the hospital and am grateful for the state is I have a lot of residents asking why are we paying for hospital care for people who don't live in Henipin County. Uh I think we did such a good job of telling people why it's a statewide asset. Now people are like, "Oh, all right, great. Now why is my why am I paying for someone from Noa County to come use our hospital?" And so I think that maybe in the future we're going to have to really delineate what we're paying because in the past we had to kind of pull these different buckets together like it's Henipin Health provides some money in there. We've got this, we've got security. I think we are going to need to have a you know one central place where a resident can say how much am I paying to deliver care for the entire state because it is still even with the changes we are still very much in the mix financially and I think um I have a lot of residents who are like yeah the state should be paying for it and b I shouldn't be paying for someone else if the other counties aren't willing to raise their taxes to pay for healthcare then why the heck do I have to pay for those counties I think it's a fair question So, um I think that's something we'll have to track going forward. Um not because I don't want to, but I think it's very fair when people I think taxes property taxes are going to be um the topic. Um and I'm not running, but I can only imagine I've told everyone get ready because I think it's a fair question that property taxes are going up everywhere and people are going to start asking why are they covering stuff. So I I I would like to see a place that would be public available so everybody can say how much is my property taxes going to pay for an asset but it is a statewide asset and so I think people have that right. The other question I had was on the if could pull up the FTE slide. So uh thank you that so we're not the only county uses variances right? I know the answer, but I'm asking it on purpose because I I sometimes I feel made to believe that we're the only people in the planet that use this evil variance thing to track FTEEs. >> No, [clears throat] Commissioner, no, we're not uh Madam Chair, we're not unique uh in tracking the variance. Um different counties or different cities might use slightly different terminology, but um this is largely what we've used here the last five or six years at Henipin. And um we've had more visibility in our data in the last decade. We've tried to lean into some of our datadriven uh technology and and give management at different levels better visibility, but no, we're not the only ones. >> Okay. And then uh our levy, is it tied to the budget FTE or the budget FTE after applying the variance? >> Uh great question, Commissioner. um it is tied to the budget at FTE with the one caveat as you're aware some departments have a vacancy factor where they are building in an assumption about a certain amount of turnover in their staff and so we do try to make sure for example if you had 100 FTEEs in a department and you knew that on any given payroll 5% of those positions are likely to be unfilled that's where you would use a vacancy factor to account for that so you're not levying for positions that likely would not be filled on any given payroll that said that's a risk uh management tool and so it's part of how we try to balance over levying for staff. Uh we try to be pretty precise. Uh but uh not all departments especially as they get smaller have the ability to do that and there's also sometimes shocks to the labor market as we've seen the past five years and that can can skew those assumptions. So we're really being mindful of that uh moving forward. >> Okay. And is it possible to get a future member just on if we wanted to fund the tax lobby without vacancies without that factor in there? Cuz uh that's the question I get is why aren't we just releasing you know the budget? Why can't we let them hire? It'd be I'd be interested that total number. Maybe it's not much. Maybe it is much. I don't know. But it'd be interesting to under to help explain to my taxpayers why that is a tool we use to reflect the reality of the variances and the vacancies that occur naturally during a year. I I remember very clearly in Brooklyn Park, we overbudgeted because they could never get to their number. And so we overbudget by two just simply to get them so that they were always aiming higher knowing that they were never going to reach that in essence the same type of thing. >> Yeah, Commissioner, we can actually easily get you that number by department of what their vacancy factors that's budgeted and then what that equates to for FTEES for that department. That's something that we do track through the budget process and we can also make sure it's visible to all of you as we go through the fall planning cycle with materials that come due this this fall. Thank you, >> Commissioner Anderson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, you know, I think, um, first a question and then clarification. The first question on that is in the the Medicaid estimates that that you provided, really appreciate seeing a number for the first time. Um, could you speak a little bit to the different factors that might drive that in different directions? And I know historically we've I think tried to be fairly conservative uh like or um state the highest number of impact generally is that we can accurately provide uh but can you tell a little bit about how we arrived at this number and what might push it in different different directions? >> Yeah, thank you commissioner. Madam chair um I'm going to give you a brief answer but I'm happy to follow up with more detail. Uh so Medicaid is complicated. Uh what I will call out is and as I mentioned earlier, there's an issue where the federal government is withholding or deferring payment to the state of Minnesota. Uh you've seen that in some of the news stories around the fraud coverage. Uh there's ambiguity about how long that will last and whether that's going to be a cash flow disruption or whether that's going to be actually a loss of payments to providers. There was a news story yesterday or the day before about uh a number of uh Medicaid providers that have just been disenrolled. And so part of this number is intended to be a real number of what we think our real exposure could be. The total amount of Medicaid that flows into Henipin County is something like $1.1 billion to all uh providers within the county. And you know, we are not presuming that all of those funds will be lost with this estimate. Um, but that's part of the the thought that's going into this is trying to evaluate when that could materialize. Is it a delay in payment or is an elimination of funding. Um, and so there's a lot of people, I mean, there's thousands of providers out there, not just Henipin County Clinics, um, that are navigating this together with the state and, uh, we can provide some additional detailed information about, uh, the total Medicaid impact to the state as best we know currently. Um, so I don't know if that answers your question fully, but there's a lot of layers in there, but the 27 million is really small compared to that $ 1.1 billion number, but that's intended to reflect what would hit our budget. Um, and what we think is possible. I don't know how likely yet. Um, but it's the most serious estimate that we can provide. >> Thank you. Uh, you know, and I think part of it to that I I want to um dive into or try to better understand as we go through this process. It's not a a right now conversation, but um you know the the number of providers that we engage with that receive Medicaid reimbursement or receive dollars. Um, I think we should do some level of examination to know like if they stop receiving payments and they are no longer able to deliver services to our residents, what is that impact to both our workforce in terms of trying to deliver services or uh shifting that burden directly, you know, like say there's a provider that uh is receiving it, they go away or don't receive something. Um, I know we've seen cases where they're saying, you know, we now have a huge budget gap because we're no longer getting reimbursed or the plan is to not get reimbured for something. Can you fill that gap? And right now, the answer is no. But there's, I think, going to be an um expectation or a request coming to us from a lot of people in the public or providers in the public saying um in order for us to stay solvent and deliver these services to our residents, we're going to need some kind of backfill. That was not part of the county's responsibility. Um, and I know it's outside of our budget, but I I think they're going to be looking to us for that. And I like I'm I'm hoping to get a better understanding of um what that expected shift onto like where people are naturally going to look for that help is us. Um, and we're going to end up having to say no to a lot of these things. Um, and I think to, you know, kind of building off of, um, comments made by Commissioner Lundy and Commissioner Fernando, like it's not just our taxes that are going to be impacted and increased to compensate for this. Um the services are going to be stretched thinner and so uh our labor force is going to be taxed uh at a higher degree and uh put more pressure on them. And when people are waiting longer for services because there are fewer people to do those services or to deliver those services, the first place that those people are going to call is likely their local city. You know, it's they're going to turn to a police department or 911 or some some other uh delivery mechanism. So, it's not even just the county that is going to feel this impact. it is going to be um all of our local government partners and um you know I've been I hope I'm I end up being wrong about this uh but the more data we can provide to make sure that uh either correct my understanding of it or um provide more facts and data to to support uh what is likely to happen. I think would be beneficial. I think that's it. >> Okay, Commissioner Eden. >> Thank you. I'll be quick. There a lot of really good points that were made by my colleagues. Uh the just of a few things um on the on the budget update. There are other grants too that we're just not receiving this year because of some of the complications in terms of receiving them. I would love to know which how many that equates up to as well. That's not included on here. I don't know if it ends up being in the millions. Um but I would love to see that. Um and agree that some of the reasons that we haven't taken them are good reasons. Uh and so with that, um also on the fund 20 balance, I just you know being able to look at this more um it is concerning just the the rapid decline of it. I mean, if you look at from 20 so 233 million in 2022 and then it's down to, you know, the 57 million in 2026 projected, it's a 75% decline. And so I genuinely am worried about that. And and you know, again, right now it's I think it's still within a normal local limit level. Um, but really concerning there is what that looks like and um what that could possibly look like in 3 years from now. That's not sustainable. So, um, just any thoughts on that, um, Mr. Matthews? >> Yeah, Madam Chair, Commissioner Eden. So, for the public's understanding, you know, the county has several different funds. The two major funds that receive property tax are the general fund and the human services fund. And the human services fund is the more volatile of the two. And so, it does eb and flow uh, as federal monies flow in or out and as service demand increases or decreases. um during the pandemic and post pandemic when there have been immediate demands on things like needing to stand up a public health clinic or needing emergency shelter services, the human services fund is the fund that the county goes to to provide those critical services. So to your point, uh it's a very high priority to make sure that those funds remain stable. And to your point, um we were at a high point in terms of balances in that fund when pandemic funds had come in. And as we um come out of that, you know, we didn't have a big cliff coming out, but we have seen sustained demand in some areas and we've seen decreasing federal revenues. And so that management and that balance of uh expense management and revenue uh maximizing our revenues as well as uh providing additional property tax will all be part of stabilizing that fund going forward. So you're you're on point. Um, it's a high priority for county administration and and the HPH team, uh, as well as the public health team as they bring their budget forward. >> Okay. Go ahead, Commissioner Lindy. You had one more question. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to blame Commissioner Eden. Also, I would have been done, but um, [clears throat] [laughter] she she asked a great question. Um and it it's a question on that the fund balances and I think this week we've seen city of Minneapolis in the paper for their fund balance the reserves getting lower and that affecting credit rating Minneapolis public schools um and I'm kind of curious and don't expect you to have all this and maybe it's cuz I'm a municipal person at heart you know where if I've heard two of them had this problem I have to think there's more and I would you know the biggest predictor about where municipalities or school districts going to cut back on services is people who are experiencing the same type of pressure which usually then increases pressure on the county because that's just where they go for the first step like we can't afford to pay for this anymore. Um you know we have a partnerships on the uh embedded social worker program that has a 6040 or 7030 split. Those kind of programs I can easily see where people are going to start to say we're going to pull back on some of this spending. Um, and so, you know, I I'm curious because twice in one week I've seen two biggest entities in the county, I think, moneywise. Uh, I know now Henipin's cutting stuff back and so I think these fund balances took Commissioner Edson's, uh, point was these are kind of a ticking time bomb because we can draw down. I know every city's got their their minimums. Um, but as you get lower and these start to go, you know, whether it's sewer, water funds, all these funds get drawn down because people don't want to add stuff to them because of all these other things going on. Eventually, the bill comes due. I have a city who's got the bills come due. They're going to have probably another year in a row of third of double digit uh increases on property taxes to make up for the past. So, I think that's going to hit us from the bottom side up, not just the federal government. And I I know what our answer is going to be on a lot of this, but I think there are partnerships where we jointly fund things that we could see some pull back um on funding for. So, thank you. >> Okay. Okay. It looks like we're doing one more round. >> I'm so sorry, Madam Chair. I'm going to blame Commissioner Lundy. Who blamed Commissioner Eden? for the municipalities of whom we have the greatest kind of financial partnership with I think we should just like look that up for whether it's social workers or if it's HUD pass through SNAP pass through I mean this is an interesting question we Henipin administer funds on behalf of other governments and we cannot backfill all of that we can't even backfill probably our portion of it and so for us to gain an understanding on the pass through side as well as gain an understanding for a program that we've initiated such as the embedded social worker, right? Embedded social worker have been wildly successful. It's in all all cities or all cities um in Henipin and the airport have access to it. 9,000 referrals, 96% people saying not in our jails and hospitals. So that from an outcome perspective and from a spend, hospital length of stay, jail length of stay is way more expensive than whatever we're paying for the embedded social workers. So I this that that kind of broader analysis for the county's um kind of top users for lack of a better word whether on the municipal level or pass through funds would be favorable for us to get a understanding of earlier and thank you madam chair sorry >> any other last comments this has always been a really great conversation when we have these things and I think it's going to get a little bit more in depth as we move forward because I think we're going to get some answers here pretty soon on some of these things so First of all, thank you. Thank you for always being available and thank you for the insights. Appreciate it. We will move on to item two, which is minutes from the previous meeting of May 2nd, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> So second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Are there any corrections, changes, updates? Seeing none, all in favor signify by I. >> I. >> Motion passes. Um item three, new business. They're routine items, but they're kind of large, so I'm going to do them one at a time. 3A is submission of an HC consortium home ARP allocation plan and substantial amendment to the 2021 HUD annual action plan to negotiate one home ARP award um agreement starting May 12th uh 2026 through May 12th of 2081 and not to exceed uh $1 million. I'll ask um county administrator for an update. >> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Omar Martinez is here from Housing and Economic Development. >> Thank you >> to present on this item. >> Um, Madame Chair, commissioners, Omar Martinez with Housing Economic Development. On September 22, on September 2022, the board approved the allocation plan for 6.4 million in special home funds Hen Hen County received from the American Rescue Plan referred to as HomeARP. Uh to date, HomeArm has funded uh has awarded three projects. The first two Vista 44 project in Hopkins and the Robin Hotel in Robbinsdale have been completed and are fully operational and leased. Uh the third Astro Common was unfortunately terminated earlier this year. Uh the request before you today recommends the reallocation of the Home ARP funding uh award to be uh awarded to New Generations LLC for the community corner project in Brooklyn Center. Uh when complete, the community corner will create 31 units of supportive housing for people experiencing and at risk of homelessness. Thank you. >> Commissioners, any questions about that? >> I'll move it, Madam Chair. >> I'll second. >> Thank you. >> Um go ahead. You had a question, please. >> Just a question. Yeah. on the uh the uh housing development that didn't go through. Uh can you tell me a little bit about what happened? Was it just like other partner funding that kind of fell through or I know supportive housing uh in general is just under a lot of distress and uh curious about the the state of that um and the new allocation like how certain is that the the next project Thank you very much for the question. Uh Madam Chair and Commissioner, the capital gap for that uh development was too broad uh for them to continue uh with the project. So they decided in February that it could not be it was too great to overcome. Uh the community corner project that's being reallocated. uh we have been working closely with um New Generations to make sure that the capital funding stack is uh fully supported to be able to continue with that project here in the next year. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? All those in favor signify by I. >> I [clears throat] oppos. Motion carries. Item 3B is to negotiate an agreement with tasks unlimited lodges and three properties, amend the uh real estate related documents and extend the date to 1231 of 2036 increasing the not to exceed by 588,000. Miss Wetland or >> Mr. Rogan, >> Madam Chair, Julie Willie is here to present on this item. Chair Gotel Commissioners Julia Welli from Housing and Economic Development. Um from 1996 to 1998, the county provided four loans to tasks from the home program totaling 588,000. [clears throat] Uh this was to acquire and rehabilitate four properties that were in Golden Valley, New Hope, and Edina. uh per the loans tasks you use these uh funds to um acquire and rehab the properties to support employment, housing and recovery services for people diagnosed with severe or persistent mental illness or with uh addiction struggles. So this action today just consolidates those four loans into one for administrative clarity. Uh but even better, it uh extends the loans for 10 more years to 2036. Thank you. >> Any questions? All those in favor signify by I. >> I'll move it, Madam Chair. >> Okay. I'm sorry. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Um all those in favor? >> I motion covered. Um we have items for discussion and action next which is 3C. Um this is agreement with Microsoft uh corporation volume licensing from uh January 1st of 2027 through 1231 of 2029 in agreement with Insight Public Sector Inc. for the purchase of Microsoft products and services from June 11th, 2026 through to 2 um be February 20th of 2030 and not to exceed of $42 million. I'll move this. >> I'll second. >> Okay. >> Madam Chair, uh county administration sent up a a memo um on this uh late last week on it and um assistant county administrator Jody Wormer is here to present this item. >> Welcome, Miss Worma. Thank you, Chair Gatell, Commissioners. This bar is a request for authorization to negotiate the renewal of the county's Microsoft Enterprise Agreement through our authorized reseller Insight Public Sector. The renewal is for a three-year term starting January 1st, 2027 and goes through December 31st, 2029. While the current agreement does not expire until December 31st of this year, renewing it now saves the county or allows the county rather to avoid more than $2 million in cost increases that are about to go into effect in July. And that is due to Microsoft's global price increase for commercial suites and government equivalents. So, the county will continue to receive the highest level of government discounts offered to government entities, but the price increase will affect us in the future. The county's Microsoft is the county's largest provider of a full suite of products designed to work together as a resilient, secure, and highly available ecosystem to ensure business continuity and stability in our organization. the productivity, collaboration, communication, power platform tools along with the Azure cloud services, infrastructure, licensing, security, compliance, and monitoring are foundational to our daily operations across on-site, hybrid, and remote settings. This three-year agreement provides consistent pricing and access to the most updated versions of technology tools that our county employees need to do their work. The same tools support our residents that use public-f facing devices at our libraries, at kiosks, and via our secure virtual desktop platform to connect with the county from their devices. The requested not to exceed amount with Insight Public Sector is, as you said, $42 million over a three-year period. As a breakdown, just over 50% of the total cost is for our productivity and security tools. 17% of costs are for cloud infrastructure, specifically storage and compute services. 13% of the costs are for our on-remise server infrastructure and licensing. 11% of costs are for power platform tools, the use of which has grown significantly as we've developed more low code applications that help business innovate and deliver more quickly. For example, ask HR portal allows prospective current and former employees and our partners to open cases with our HR service center. It streamlines data collection, tracks volume and trends, and develops reports. We also use Power Pages as an online portal for residents to request services 247 from our veteran services department versus going in person or via phone. And I'm highlighting this area as a growing strategic direction. Our use of power platform tools can result in faster delivery of solutions, reducing lengthy development cycles, and avoiding the purchase of one-off IT tools. Automation and workflow tools streamline our manual work. And with robust, scalable data tools in this platform for collection and storage, we can gain better insights to inform decision. These are really powerful tools that are increasing our agility and our ability to adapt as business needs evolve. We do build some flexibility in the not to exceed contract as we always have and that's to respond to business needs as they change over time. We spend months leading up to contract negotiations analyzing our usage to keep licensing costs right sized and it monitors usage throughout the term of the contract always looking for ways to keep our costs down. Historically it does underspend the not to exceed amount and for the current contract we expect to underspend by about $2.5 million. So, as Dan said, last Friday you received a memo with supplemental information related to the request, but I'm available for any questions, and we also have our CIO, Glenn Gilbertson, in the audience who's happy to answer questions as well. Thank you. Thank you. And I know we had an opportunity, Miss Roma, to have a conversation before this, but I've also talked with Administrator Wetland and I believe uh Mr. Matthews regarding this. $42 million is still a lot of money. And that does not talk about the money that the hospital is spending on this same suite. Um, and they're not allowing us to negotiate together to get a better price. And in doing some research on this, I find out that not everybody uses Microsoft suite. State of Utah does not. The state of Arizona, our US Department of Transportation at the federal level does not. City of Los Angeles does not. Thousands of businesses do not. and they still need all those suites of available and they are in in other products. Um I know that France, Germany and China do not have that platform. In fact, they've actually have a product for next cloud which is not the cloud services we use. They also launched their own satellite so that they could have an amenity and not be hooked to U US entities. Um, and so the there are ways for us to look at this too. And I think it would give us if we did it gave it would give us leverage in the negotiations of $42 million. Um, if more companies, if more governments, which we have some examples of some, decide to look at other platforms um, and look at the negotiations of what we need, we may find some pricing strategies that help us out considerably. When I think about the budget cuts that we're looking at in the future, this is something we cannot ignore anymore. And I didn't bring this up sooner because we've had we had conversations actually some time ago because we were trying to save a hospital. Um, and I'm grateful for those kinds of things. But then now we got to look at what the county's got to do in the future. And so some investigation into this would would be much appreciated just to see where we might land or or what negotiating tool we may have on this particular item. Other comments or questions? Commissioner Lundy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh just a few comments and uh I see Glenn, he's trying to hide behind the podium on me, but I I moved over a little bit so I could uh direct. Uh I just want to point out and this is the same thing that when the security company uh I can't remember what their new Borg well the where they provide us all the equipment with the sheriffs and they're going to save us money if we ordered. Now, we weren't saving money. >> Yeah. >> We were saving money on their price increase. That is not the same thing. That's like me saying, "Hey, if you buy it today, I won't charge you extra tomorrow." That is not savings. Uh, I just looked it up. Microsoft's new fiscal year starts July 1. This is them closing deals so they can book business. Software gets booked. Uh, they want, this has nothing to do with saving us a damn dime. This is all for them to hit their numbers so they can do the reporting. Um, I also would like us to look at other products. Um, I don't have I have much lower confidence at Microsoft's ability. They implemented co-pilot which I don't think anybody has to go very far in the tech world to find out it is not landing well. They pulled it out. They put it in everything. No one asked for it. They've been having problems with uh leaks with the technical challenges, people using things. I'm curious uh and this is where I'll get to the last part is um but I just don't have much confidence. I do think we need to actively be looking. The fact that they can tell us we can't negotiate with the hospital, I think means that they think they own us. That's what I hear. Uh, and I think that we need to redo that calculation. I know it takes years to do a switch. So, I know that we have three years cuz we're going to have to renew this. We're using their software. You can't just uninstall it. But, I do think that we should actively start to look at that. Um, you know, there's the term micro slop. Um, and that's what they've got now. Their quality has gone down significantly. I have not 42 million have negotiated license agreements. The true-ups that is Microsoft's uh disaster. Um anybody who doesn't know this, they actually have a team that actually headquarters that answers questions because no one in the field works for Microsoft can answer the same questions. If you're going to have a software license agreement discussion, you actually have people specialist to understand it because no one can understand the software. But I think the only thing they ever understand is the threat to lose business. It's it's the only thing they respect. And so if you need a bar for us to direct staff to do this that you can go and put in front of them saying that our county commissioners or if you can accept this video, I absolutely do want us to take a look at other things. And we don't work for them. Uh they should be working for us. And I feel like uh I know 42 million, it's 14 million a year. I'm sure they've given us some stuff that they'd like us to adopt, the freebies that we hope they can build to us later. Um, I also don't think that their AI implementation has gone over well at all. I kind of question if we should even be using that platform. I think we use it because it's in our systems, but there might be other tools out there. My last question is, and Glenn certainly can get this to me later. I'd like to get some assurances from them on two things. one is our data being stored outside of the US and I know they said because I've sold cloud services when I was with Microsoft but I also know that things that they move data around all the time to data centers and data warehousing about where your data sits changes by the law where it sits so if data goes to Canada it's Canadian law that governs it not American law the other thing I want to know is who gets to access our data if they're outsourcing to other countries that means our data is being used and accessed by companies uh people that are not in the US that means data is crossing borders. I would love to see assurances on that cuz I've seen people that have uh sued Microsoft on the basis that teams are actually working on products that are not based here. And if they're not based here, they're actually that means the data has to move. Um, and so just something I'm very keen on because I think the tech companies have gotten really loose with the rules. And so having people from other countries work on data is still other data moving across boundaries. And our data is HIPPA data. It's personal data. It's private data. And so I think that we have the right to ask those things. And I know that we're not alone in asking them. And I know we're not alone in the fact that they have not lived up to the terms of their agreement. So, I realize we are where we are, but uh let me know if you need a bar because I do think it it becomes increasingly important that we remind them just like the sheriff's department. I know that we have a agency that is a firm that's buying up all these companies and now they're the big people on the block that we need to actively start to look at people otherwise we will just pay whatever price they tell us to and we get a smile and write a check. >> I'll co-author that bar with you. >> Yep. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I've we've worked in in the the tech industry. Um and I I do want to caution us just a little bit about um how far we explore other alternatives. We we need to be responsible. I've been involved in uh the transition between um what is it Lotus Notes into Microsoft Exchange which I if I'm not mistaken Henipin has gone through that nightmare. Um we don't want to do that again. It will cost us far more than $42 million uh times whatever. Um so I am fully supportive of negotiation um like specifically downgrading licenses to save money. Um making sure that we are utilizing the right amount of resources for our needs and doing a full evaluation of that. um you know working on the like uh the county technology advisory council at the at no there are a lot of tools for l um resources out there for license negotiation and making sure that we get best prices um through no and national uh organizations. So, we should be leveraging tools to make sure that both our hospital and us uh and we are getting the absolute best price for our uh our license deal and we totally should be doing all of that work and and I'm sure that you are going through that due process. We know also that um Microsoft, as Commissioner Lundy pointed out, um they have an entire certification stack for license uh understanding. Um and I've gone through a number of Microsoft certifications. Like I have more certifications in my background than uh than I certainly need in my current capacity. But um it's it's crazy how complex they make their their systems and having people who understand it and are are working through it to um best leverage our position uh is incredibly important. Uh but we have tools that we need to make sure that we're um that are meeting our business needs and that our business needs should be number one. Absolutely. >> Um, and that's that's where I want to make sure that we are uh that we're working towards it and we're making sure that we're holding uh our IT partners responsible for delivering the product that we need in order to do our job. Um, and telling our, you know, perhaps our lines of business, sorry, you don't need all of that functionality. [laughter] you know, we can um we can maybe make do with some of the other uh functionality that exists within a stack that we're already paying for. So, um you know, scope creep is a is a real thing and we need to make sure that we're doing putting our own internal controls on on that to keep keep an eye on what we are doing and keeping it focused on on our mission. So, >> thank you, Commissioner. I just want to follow up on what you had to say. Transition to anything is a difficult process, but it can be done wrong and can be done right. And a lot of times it's done wrong. I've seen the county do a really phenomenal job at doing any kind of transition when we're looking at programming and we need to make transitions. I mean, we did leave Oracle and that went smooth. I don't think I ever heard about it even. Um, and so we have had to get off and that was because of cost as well. We transitioned to something else. Um, but it's years in the making and you're right and we wouldn't do this lightly, but I think we would still look at it. I still think we should be looking at this and I would like to move forward with a a review. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by I. >> I. Motion carries. Um, good discussion. Item 3D, authorize the county assessor to consider impact of conservation easements on property values. Mr. Broen, >> move approval. Oh, >> second. Second. [clears throat] Madam Chair, Christine Mau from Environment and Energy is here to present on this item and Josh Hogland, the county assessor, is here if there are follow-up questions. >> Madame Chair and Commissioners, I'm Christine Mau with Environment and Energy. This request is to authorize the county assessor to consider the impact of conservation easements on property values. Conservation easements provide wildlife habitat, support clean water and air, sequester carbon, and improve the county's resilience to the impacts of climate change. In 2025, Henipin County and partners successfully advocated for this change to the Minnesota statute 273.11 for metropolitan counties that have adopted a program to protect farmland or natural areas. In 2016, Henipin County adopted the conservation easement program, formalizing the county's work to permanently protect natural resource corridors and ecologically significant natural areas in resolution 16-0144R2. In 2021, we identified a goal of acquiring 6,000 acres of conservation easements by 2040 in the county climate action plan. After 5 years of working toward this climate goal, one barrier to participation has been the inability to recognize the reduction in property values because of enacting a conservation easement. Authorizing the assessor to consider the impact of conservation easements on a property's value provides more accurate property tax valuation. Property values can be adjusted when an easement is established, ensuring a landowner's taxes reflect the restrictions on their property's future development potential. This resolution advances the county's 6,000 acre easement goal and preserves Henipin County's most critical natural areas for future generations to come. >> Thank you. And Josh and I can take any questions. [snorts] >> This is a great idea, I think, to a great incentive. Um, any questions or comments? All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Item 3E is a resolution directing exploration of the Metro County Public Impact Summit in partnership with the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs offered by Commissioners Eden and Anderson. Would you like to move it? >> I'll move it. >> I'll second. >> Please take it away. Who's going to start? Uh thank you, Madam Chair. So, uh, this is a a resolution to explore, um, something that we, when I was at the legislature, we had a, uh, summit that was called one Minnesota. And so, what it would what it did is it took all the lawmakers all throughout the state of Minnesota. It was 201. And we would convene at the Humphrey Institute um, for one day and we would come together and we would look at the demographics of the state. We would look at the job market of the state. We would look at the budget of what's happening. um we would have a guest note speaker and then we would have a few panels in the afternoon. And so um I spoke to we we organized this in partnership with the Humphrey School. So Professor Larry Jacobs is who we worked with. And so I contacted him to see if there would be interest um in doing something like this for the sevenount metro. He he's definitely interested and then I reached out to some of the other counties. So, Anoka, Dakota, Washington Ramsay. I also connected with Julie Ring from AMC and she's really interested, but it wouldn't be an AMC initiative. Um, but she would definitely want to help with it. We would work with different foundations to get the funding to support it. Um, it would be a one-day summit. It would happen if we can get the funding. So, it would be no cost to counties. Um, but it would also include so county commissioners, county administrators in the seven county metro, uh, mayors, uh, city administrators, uh, superintendants. I have a list somewhere. I'm going off memory. Um, lawmakers is one one of the things that that we would also add. And it would be a great day to kind of come together, establish the same facts of what's happening in our state. And it encourages partnership. I think one thing that we've learned over these last this last year is that we're all struggling financially and I think the more collaboration and the more partnership that we can have is is really a positive. Uh so I'm happy to take any questions about it. Um and I just want to thank my colleagues for considering >> you want to speak. >> And the reason just really quick why I'm bringing this as a bar is because I don't know how else to discuss it openly with everybody. So just so you're like why is this a bar Heather? And that's that's why I'm doing it this way. And also it helps with um approaching foundations. >> Um thank you, Madam Chair. Um also, uh Commissioner Edson, thanks for uh reaching out to me and talking about it and offering me a chance to to co-author with you. Um the the idea of bringing people together. Uh I've also had conversations with uh several commissioners in the the metro area um who shared an interest in in doing something like this um because we are all talking about some of these same things about regionalization uh consolidation of services um and how we can best approach some of these uh really thorny topics from a 7count metro area that are that's kind of more county centric. Um, and I, you know, I think there's definitely an interest in having a a shared baseline of understanding. Um, and also making sure that we are, you know, gaining in uh and our collective power to advocate for things that are going to be working well with our state legislative partners. Um, so I think that there's there's a lot of opportunity here and doing something or finding a way to make something ongoing uh that can be uh you know specific topic perhaps every year. Uh I know we're kind of in initial exploration mode um and I like the idea of having a a nocost thing to us. Uh [laughter] so uh any anytime we can uh we can bring people together and and act as a convenor I think is a is a bonus for us. So >> okay, Commissioner Fernando and then I >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Commissioners Eden and Anderson for bringing this forward. Um I am very much in support of the exploratory aspect and the pilot aspect. So just out of the gate annual scares me maybe every odd year or something. So I I appreciate the pursuit though and so um supporting the exploratory and let's do it once um Commissioner Eden especially when you're involving other counties there is no other way to speak about things other than bringing it in. So this is just kind of the process and the way that this is written allows for you know this is not overtly defined yet and that that allows for a conversation to engage differently quite frankly with the other counties as well. Um, a number of the counties that might be invited have some of them even have five commissioners. So, their open meeting laws are uh, you know, even more kind of compressed. Uh, I appreciate that it's with the Humphrey and that it's um that there's a funding provision. [gasps and sighs] Um, I am open to the thoughts of audience in part because of the next thing I'm going to say, which is [clears throat] this is a cool pilot to consider as Henipin County turns 175 next year. So whether that is this fall or into next year, um it would be appropriate for uh the county to consider some programmatic features kind of throughout the year that would uplift um that kind of marker of time and of course would want to engage with REIA and the reparative justice framework that they've suggested um because you know Humphre is also at the U land grant university you know there's a lot of intersections for which we could ensure that the county's values and that um and that collaboration and inclusion are are able to be achieved. So, I think this is written in a in a way that really allows for the exploratory aspect. Let's get it done once. and I happen to agree that we need to be talking to each other differently in these next few years in order to ensure services continue and that um our finance the the taxpayer funds that we are um we are the precious funds that we are allowed to levy and and reallocate are stewarded to the best of of their ability. So thank you madam chair. >> Thank you. I just wanted to bring to your attention the regional council of mayors of which I still sit on and I have sat on since I was a mayor and I'm now the county liaison to that organization they do something very similar to this already. So it would be interesting to have conversations with them to see what they do in the League of Minnesota cities which is involved in there and uli um those organizations are doing a lot. They have a lot of the connections that you um they also partner with the federal reserves which also has a lot of this demographic information and so they they may have seen a lot of this. So I think to entice our mayors to come we need to put a new twist on it or something for those kinds of things. So that conversation would be worthwhile having as well. And if you need some context or contacts into that, I'd be happy to provide that because I think this is it's always good to get together. And I think I I really get a lot out of meeting with the mayors and then being able to pick up the phone and talk to them about their individual cities and the issues that they're going to going through at times. So I find it really great. So I'm supportive. >> Thank you. >> Any other thoughts or questions? All those in favor signify by I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Um the last item is an addendum. It's 3F. It's directing county administrator to identify and retain a consultant to assist with recruiting and vetting candidates for reconstituting Henipin Healthcare System board and to engage the county's consultant for finalizing a long-term capital planning strategy for county-owned real estate lease, excuse me, to Henipin Healthc Care Systems. I'll move this. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Roen. Chair Gotel Miss Rutland. Commissioners, as you know, recent legislative changes direct the county to appoint at least nine external board members to the newly reconstituted Henipin Healthcare System board by January 15th, 2027. Item 3F directs county administration to secure a consultant to help the county board in the recruitment of those candidates. Additionally, it authorizes the administrator to amend an existing agreement with Canon Design Incorporated, extending their contract through December 2026 to finalize a long-term capital planning strategy for county-owned real estate leased to Henipin Healthcare Systems. Staff are available to answer any questions you may have. Questions? Commissioner Lundy. >> Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to thank administration for bringing this forward. I'm very interested in the the um long-term planning because um that is still our hook into the hospital system and so understanding that cuz legislature did many things but one thing we pulled off the table early was capex um which I understand why and so that was to be determined. So to be determined needs to be determined next year that this these age of these buildings are you know they're going to continue to start to increase our yearly. So having a plan and then having you know that ready. Do you think that we will have stuff ready for next legislative session because I think we're going to have to make the case probably a little more clearly about the challenge in front of that and again that if this is a statewide asset having county property tax owners cover that. So with that I'll yield. Thank you madam chair. >> Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you madam chair. my feedback um well first I'll cover what commissioner um Lundy was getting at absolutely agree that if what for what is what what of our future financial model is meant to be for the county and what makes sense for the state to be in partnership with and interestingly the county is the land owner right we're the property owner so from a capital perspective I think part of my interest and and I'm echoing commissioner Lundy's comment which is the second resolve ing clause. There's a lot of different opportunities as we look to the future. Um the state seemed to be very interested in uncompensated care. What if our funds what if their funds shifted to that and ours was about the capital sack? I I I'm not proposing. I'm just expressing that that is why we need a facilities planning um effort that is fast. Number one. Number two, the first resolving clause is about the uh the reconstituting of the hospital board. So, I do kind of want to say this out loud because there was a lot in the background and this board has taken up this question quite a bit. So, county board, subsidiary hospital board and by January 15th of next year, the subsidiary hospital hospital board is meant to be reinstated with a number of provisions. So that's what this first resolving clause is for those following at home. Um having someone not us and not the county and not the hospital recruiting, reviewing, ensuring that we are aligned with statute and have the pro proper expertise for the future operating of this entity is very logical. I think it needs to come in now because all of these dates are kind of around the corner. uh a January 15th reconstituting colleagues. There's only two Tuesdays before the January 15th [gasps] and as we all know um we we siny die kind of you know mid December. So especially when we have a kind of uh you know sharehold stakeholder analysis um it's in here somewhere engaging community patients workers and other stakeholders especially when we add that round of review. >> Yeah >> this is going to we kind of got to get started. So, I'm very grateful that this has come forward. I appreciate that there is some rooting in um the way that the first board was constituted. Sounds like the first HHS board 20 years ago now, 18 years ago um had this kind of external party review process. So, this seems very aligned and right on time. This is not a later conversation. So, I just want to appreciate that to everyone who's listening um in and who's going to email feedback and whatnot. both the capital side and the HHS board being reconstituted are going to require significant planning and I am very eager to see the results of this. Thanks, Madam Chair. >> Other comments or questions? All those in favor signify by I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. And that concludes our agenda for today. I'll be right back. >> [snorts] >> Don't worry, I'm going to read all of them. I will call to order the health committee. It is Tuesday, June 2nd. I'm the vice chair, Heather Eden, standing in for chair Angela Connley, who's in DC on a on a conference. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes from May 12th. Are there any changes? If not, if I can have a motion. Thank you. A second. >> Second. >> Thank you. It's been moved and second. And all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. We have two routine items before us today. Um, excuse me. We have two new new routine uh businesses before us today. I can get if I can get a motion for 2 A and 2B before >> both, chair. >> Thank you. Um, and second. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. I'll read them into the record. Item 2 A is an amendment for an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the purchases of services for people living with HIV and AIDS extending the date from June 30th, 2026 through June 30th, 2027 and increasing the receivable amount to to by 2 million um for a new total receivable amount of 8,22,927. Um, item 2B is an amendment to an agreement with Change Healthcare Technologies LLC, Henipin Health, Vendor of Evidence-Based Clinical Criteria, increasing the not to exceed amount by 71,750 for a new total not to exceed amount of 2,568,024. Are there any questions about that? Okay, it looks like we can move to a vote. There will be no further questions or comments, we'll move for a vote. All those in favor of approving items 2 A and 2 B, please say I. I. I [clears throat] >> opposed. The motion carries. That concludes the health committee. We are adjourned. [snorts] I will call to order the Human Services Committee. It's Tuesday, June 2nd. It is 2:50 p.m. and I'm the chair, Heather Eden. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes from May 12th. If there are any changes, if I could have a motion. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> All right. It's been moved and seconded. Um, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion carries. We have five routine items before us today. Um, but I'm going to move separately items 2 A and 2 B and then we'll move items 2 C through 2 E as a block. If I could have a motion for 2A before us. >> So move. >> Second. >> Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Item 2A is a human services and public resolution including contracts and amendments to contracts with providers with more information on board report 2607. If there are any questions with that, that's a pretty routine one. Okay. So, uh, no questions or comments. All those in favor of item 2 A, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. And then I'll have a motion to put 2B before us. And I'll read it into the record. >> Second. >> Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Item 2B is an acceptance of special gift fund 2025 annual report and acceptance of donations made by Henipin County Human Services and Public Health Gift Fund in 2025. Are there any questions about this? Nope, it looks like there's not. Um, we will move for a vote. All those in favor of approving item 2B, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion carries. And then I'll have a a motion to have 2C to 2 E before us. And I'll read them. >> Madam Chair, >> thank you. It's been moved. >> Second. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded. I'll read them into the record. I don't know if there's any questions after that. Item 2 C is an amendment to a joint powers agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the provision of emergency sheltering and tenency supports for people with disability disabling conditions who are experiencing homelessness extending the date of June 30th, 2027 and increasing the receivable amount by 3,169,57 um and.79. Okay. for uh a new total receivable amount of 9,350,785.79. You don't see 79 cents very often or cents in general. That throws me off. Um [laughter] >> but we'll take it. We'll take it. Item 2D is an amendment to joint powers agreements with the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the provision of housing services for American Indians with uh severe substance use disorders who are experiencing homelessness extending the not to exceed the end date to June 30th 2027 increasing the receivable amount um by 1,385,848 93 cents were on a roll for a new total receivable amount of 4,9 98,425 and 93. Item 2E is an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Services to the uh receive federal financial participation funding um for administration of non-emergency medical transportation services from July 1st, 2026 to December 31st of 2027 in the receivable amount of 6 million. Are there any questions other than the good news of receiving all of this money? Um very good news. Uh no questions on this. Uh we will move to a vote. All those in favor of approving items 2 C through 2E, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion carries. That concludes the human services committee. We are adjourned. Okay, [snorts] I'd like to call today's meeting of the law, safety, and justice committee to order. Uh we have a few items before us. Uh first is 1A, approval of the minutes from May 12th. If I get a motion and a second, please. >> We have a motion and a second. Any changes, questions, additions? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. We do have two routine items. However, I'm going to separate them. Uh first up is 2A, which if I get a motion and second, put on the table. >> So moved. Second. >> We have a motion, a second. 2A is a joint powers agreement with the city of Minneapolis for victim advocacy services to be performed by one FTE position in the Ha County Attorney's Office domestic abuse service center 7126 to 63029 250,000 receivable if I get background please. >> Good afternoon commissioners uh chair Lundy I'd like to invite Siri Lockinsgard from the domestic abuse service center to provide background on 2A. Thank you, Madame Chair. Uh, Commissioner Lundy, Commissioners, thank you for having me today. My name is Siri Lokensgard, and I'm the director of the Domestic Abuse Service Center. The bar before you today reads, "The Henipin County Attorney's Office Domestic Abuse Service Center has a multid-disciplinary prosecution team to review and follow up on all gone on arrival domestic violence police reports in the city of Minneapolis. Currently, domestic abuse service center advocates provide victim services on nonfelony gone on arrival cases with the goal to reduce domestic violence lethality and increase victim safety. Funding from the city of Minneapolis will be used to support one FTE in DASK to expand victim services to now also support felony level gone on arrival cases. The goal of this position is to ensure a quicker trauma-informed and victim-entered response to victims following a highly lethal domestic violence incident, a greater streamline of victim services and support, and a more effective system systemic response by providing victim input to law enforcement and prosecution. The role of the advocate will be to connect with victims on felony gone on arrival cases, assess the lethality factors, assist victims in creating a detailed safety plan, notify victims of the current case status, gather victim input, and provide immediate support and intervention to victims. Options and resources could include, but are not limited to, filing an extreme risk protection order to remove firearms, assistance with finding safe housing and relocation, filing an order for protection, or identifying financial support towards safety measures. Um, thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Thank you. Any questions? Com Comm Commissioner Fernando. >> Yes, thank you. I'm very excited about this. So, just to confirm, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um this is for victim services and not uh deputized law enforcement or is it can you clarify that? >> Uh yes madam chair commissioner lendy commissioners that is correct. >> Great. So I just want to express gratitude because when I was learning more about this process um with Miss Samuels uh uh death last fall and then learning about Miss Lucer's case and death the previous year. it seemed so misaligned that the city was reviewing felony and that the county was reviewing non-felony using the language today. So this this seems very positive. The second thing that I uncovered is that we were not back at the victim kind of resource levels from pre- pandemic. I actually still don't think we're quite there. Um but this gets us in that direction. Uh and so Mr. Chair, thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Ed. Well, Commissioner Fernando just said something that was really interesting. I didn't know anything about felony versus non I I That's interesting. So, I um I just wanted to know like what was done before this. So, I'm I'm a little perplexed by um because we have at the Henipin County Attorney's Office, we have a domestic abuse, we have victims services. And so, I I'm I'm trying to understand the gap. if you could just explain it to me because I did not know about the felony versus when you said that I was like what? >> So, um yeah, if you could just explain it to me. I'm looking at this resolution and I just want to understand. >> Yeah, thank you. Uh Madame Chair, Commissioner Lundy, commissioners. Um, so historically at the domestic abuse service center through our prosecution team, specifically our domestic abuse service center advocates would follow up on all gun on arrival misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor police reports in the city or domestic violence police reports in the city of Minneapolis. And so to streamline and better streamline victim services and victim service support on our prosecution team, uh this uh JPA would allow us to then also follow up on those highlethality um domestic violence felony gone on arrival reports as well. So it would be additional support. >> Why was it why would why was there ever a distinction? Is are all cities like that? [laughter] Madam Chair, Commissioner Lundy, Commissioners, um you know, our prosecution team, which includes the city of Minneapolis, uh city attorney's office, the Henipin County Attorney's Office, Minneapolis Police Department, Domestic Abuse Unit, Henipin County Probation, um Henipin County Domestic Abuse Service Center Advocates, as well as a community-based organization. We are all part of this prosecution team. And so historically, you know, our advocates at the Domestic Abuse Service Center would um in turn provide follow-up and support to victims um but we would split that work with the community-based organization. And so just in a lot of conversations that we had with the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office and our prosecution team, it was determined that um by allowing the domestic abuse service center and our prosecution team to follow up on all uh gone on arrival domestic violence police reports versus splitting the work would allow for a more streamlined communication, especially when those um gone on arrival domestic violence reports were then submitted to the Henipin County Attorney's Office for potential charging. I have so many more questions, but I'm going to follow up with you offline. Great. >> Thank you, Commissioner. [snorts] >> Yeah, Chair. Uh, so, Commissioner Eden, I love your questions because what Siri is answering is because you see this as logical like, and so that's I just want to express that there's not a disagreement here. The system is misaligned. And we're even just talking on the victims and kind of prosecution side. Gone on arrival cases are completely heartbreaking. These are cases where they have called 911 and the perpetrator or if you will is gone, right? They're they're not there. And so there's this um this gap from a resident perspective where there might be authority to arrest, but there hasn't been a requirement or a charge yet. And so there is a gap area for where victims are the most vulnerable. And it is right after particularly a lethal gone on rival, a felony gone on arrival. And so this streamlining will quite literally in my opinion um decrease deaths decrease and and really address preventable deaths. And so you are I I'm eager to hear your questions uh as as time goes on and just want to express gratitude. I see that there's other DAS members here but yeah this is really this will this is the highest kind of lethal victim space and um I'm grateful to see this action here. Thanks Sheriff. Sorry. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Uh I just had a couple more uh comments. So, thank you uh obviously for all that you do. Um and you know what's concerning is not your work. It's when we read the paper about these gaps and we're reading about the city auditor not getting access to personnel to ask questions to do proper, you know, post review to see what happened, what could we learn? And you have people who are there who are not available. That's concerning. I mean, I'm not saying anything did or didn't happen, but it's sure the hell hard to find out if you can't get a person to sit down at the table and answer questions. Um, and this is a part I would ask for and I don't expect to answer today all but I would like to understand how this works countywide because this is just Minneapolis and and so I know other cities do it differently. I remember in Brooklyn Park, we buffed up. We got changed out our city prosecutor because they were pleading out too often. And so the police were like, "We need more prosecutions cuz the pleading out was lowering what should have been more serious charges to something that we could get on record." But and so every city that was just Brooklyn Park >> and Brooklyn Park set up a contract with a provider, but that's not Brooklyn Center. That's not OIO. And if I I don't know if you guys probably don't obsess over, I do like crime data. And uh if you look at by city, domestics are the highest number in every city. And so I guess where I'm going with is if if we can get something from you to kind of talk about countywide by city. I'd also like to know is the gaps that we're seeing in Minneapolis occurring in other cities or are they working fine? Is this Minneapolis? Because I don't know. Are we seeing these these gaps that could occur where these things are happening? But because it's not Minneapolis, we don't see it on the front page. Um, but I think a victim anywhere in this county is a victim. They don't need to be in a certain jurisdiction. And so I'm just curious to learn more cuz, you know, I think a couple years ago we did a tour. I appreciated that. Um, but understanding that that moment I realized it was just for Minneapolis and my district is not Minneapolis. So I had lots of questions. So uh, I just like to understand more on that and are there gaps? Are we in inadvertently creating gaps? because certain cities get more resources than other cities and so I don't know the answer to that but I know that if you assume that only something goes wrong in Minneapolis with these gaps I always think that's a bad assumption and so um that's my request is I for more information >> madam chair commissioner lendy commissioners I can definitely you know provide you with some follow-up information um what I will say is that domestic violence does not discriminate and So, if the need is there in Minneapolis, the need is there in in Henipin County. Um there is a breakdown list that I can send you, Commissioner Lundy. Um that details which organizations follow up based on the city and the contracts that they have in those cities. Um but there still are gaps um and there still are cities that don't have advocates that are assigned to follow up on those cases. So, um I can get you more information. >> Yeah. And and thank you for that. I appreciate that. And you know, I was thinking, you know, a couple weeks ago, we talked about the the labor study we did for law enforcement. Smaller jurisdictions don't have the ability to designate an officer to get advanced training on victim connectivity, gathering evidence. They don't have the ability to fund organizations that can do that that followup because if you don't following up within 48 hours, you're less likely to get the person want to press charges. Um, and so there is a difference that's occurring inside our county, and it's not anyone's particular fault. It's the fact that if a city can't afford to fund this extra stuff, a victim in a small city is not going to get the same services they might get in a larger city simply because they just don't have the wherewithal. And but I still think to your point, a victim is a victim. It doesn't the wear part is irregardless. So, um I'll be interested in whatever you provide. Thank you. Any other questions? Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I would also like to have that that followup and um if there can also be uh an evaluation done on our contracted cities uh where uh the sheriff's department is the the entity providing the patrol and uh initial response um you know that understanding the crossjurisdictional um relationship like that I think would be helpful. Thank you. I I will speak for Commissioner Green and uh Connelly. They'll probably want the same thing. I think we all are after the same piece of info. So, um any other questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor of 2A, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you very much. Uh the second item is more routine, I believe. Uh if I get a motion, second, put it on the table. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second for 2B. That's an amendment to agreement with steps for change LLC to provide residential sexual health treatment services for community corrections clients extending end date to 123127 increasing not to exceed by 100,000 for a new not to exceed total of 600,000. Uh if there aren't any questions I will just move to a vote. Seeing none all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. And with that uh without objection I would declare the media and law safety and justice committee adjourned. I will call to order our public works committee for today. Our first item on the agenda is to approve the minutes from our May 12th meeting. May I have a motion and a second? >> We have a motion and a second. Any additions or corrections to the minutes? Uh all in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The minutes are approved. Uh we have uh several just routine items. I'll read uh if it's okay with the body, I would ask for a motion to block chair >> through 2E. Thank you. I'll read them into the record. Item 2A is to negotiate an agreement with Mandot and Stantech to perform an architectural history survey of CASPF 5 in St. Louis Park. Estimated county cost of $9,42 in state aid. Item 2B is uh an amendment to accept uh LBRP grant funds for bridge number 27542 replacement along Casaw one in Eden Prairie. We love these numbers. Uh and adjusting the budget with a county receivable of just under $750,000 in state grants. Item 2 C is to negotiate uh an amendment two to an agreement with Met Council and the railroad authority for blue line extension project uh extending the end date to 63027 with no increase to the not to exceed amount. Item 2D is an agreement with the city of Eden Prairie for an organ organics drop off grant. uh the period of 61526 to 61528 with a not to exceed of $2,470. And item 2E is to negotiate various agreements for aquatic invasive species prevention projects various periods total combined not to exceed of just over $132,000. Are there any questions on any of these items? Seeing none, before we move to a vote, I just want to point out my appreciation for including the additional information of the uh where the money is going to and the uh whether it's going to mandated services, core services. Um I appreciated the the extra detail. Uh, and I know that it's it's no small task to pull this uh additional information together, but it it does help provide us the context of uh why we're doing what we're doing and uh very much appreciate it. So, thank you. Um, with that, all those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Those items are approved. And with that, I will move I'll adjourn the public works committee. But don't go anywhere. We We still got one more thing. >> I No. >> No. >> Not the rail authority. Good afternoon. I will call to order our uh housing and redevelopment authority. I'm Kevin Anderson. I'm the vice chair. Uh our first item is the approval of the agenda. May I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The agenda is approved. Our second item is to approve the minutes from our previous meeting. Uh may I have a motion and a second? >> So moved. >> We have We have a motion and a second. Any additions or corrections to the minutes? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Uh the minutes are approved. Uh we have no claims registers. Uh on to our new business. Item 4 A. May I have a motion and a second to bring this before us. We have a motion and a second. Uh item 4 A is to negotiate assignment, assumption, and amendment to an agreement approving the transfer of ownership of property to Bickham Court limited partnership extending the term to 1231 19 or 2080 increasing the not to exceed uh to $710,000 and terminating agreement uh the previous agreement. Uh I believe uh Miss Abby Lucen is here to present. Good. Good afternoon, Chair Anderson and commissioners. This requested action and the one following both request approval to restructure older AHIFF agreements so existing affordable and supportive housing properties can proceed with renovation and extend the affordability to term to another 50 years. Both projects meet our highest priority when considering loan servicing requests, which is to ensure the housing remains an affordable quality housing option. These actions relate to older AHIFF agreements related both to older AHF agreements both protect the HAS's original investment and best serve county residents. Speaking to Bickham Court specifically, this project provides 56 familysized affordable and supportive housing units in St. Louis Park. In 2024, this property, formerly known as Perspectives, was sold to Trellis Company with all funers consent because the parent organization Perspectives was going through bankruptcy. Since then, Trellis has successfully raised additional capital includ including supportive housing strategy funding from the HR for a substantial renovation of the property. Trellis plans to close on the funding yet in 2026. In order to close on the new financing, the existing AHIF agreements tied to the property must be assumed by the new ownership entity and extended out to match the term of the new debt. The actions requested today will facilitate preservation of this important family supportive housing property. In July, we will bring a very similar action to recast the existing home debt on this property to the admin committee. I'm available should you have any questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. Questions for my colleagues? Seeing none, uh all those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Uh that item is approved. Item 4B is to negotiate assignment assumption and amendment to an agreement approving the transfer of ownership of property to Northview LLC extending term to 123178 increasing the not to exceed uh terminate and forgive the agreements and uh the three agreements with Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative. Uh may I have a motion and a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Uh we've already kind of heard about this. Do my colleagues have any requests for additional information? Uh, all those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? Uh, that item is approved. Um, moving on to 4C, negotiating, uh, business district initiative grants agreements with the cities of Edina, Hopkins, and Richfield uh, EDA periods of 63026 to 1231-27 total combined not to exceed of 65,000. uh negotiating five consultant agreements for Henipin planning grant assistance with periods of 6326 to 123127 and a total combined not to exceed of $160,000. May I have a motion? >> I'll move it. >> Uh second >> and a second. Thank you. Um I believe we have Ryan Kelly here to uh provide us an update on this. >> Thank you, Chair Anderson. Commissioners, the business district initiative and Henipin planning grants programs are long-standing related efforts to advance economic resiliency, address climate mitigation goals via smarter land use development, and increase the ability of county residents to walk, bike, and take transit for daily activities, key components of the county's economic development strategy. These competitive programs provide resources to cities that are actively investing in the success and growth of their local business, community, and business districts. and to cities having land use authority that are advancing land use and redevelopment plans that implement community visions in alignment with county goals. A competitive request for applications was opened in March of 2026. We received 11 applications requesting almost $550,000 with 200,000 available. This action includes direct grant agreements with three cities for business district projects and agreements with consultants competitively selected to complete planning projects in three cities. The item before you also reallocates unspent funds from a prior year business district initiative award to another business district initiative project. The recommended projects include implementation of branding and wayfinding planning efforts in the cities of Adina, Richfield, and at the downtown Hopkins Greenline Extension LRT station. A small area plan for high growth potential areas in the city of Dayton to facilitate greater housing choice and a mixeduse community. in a village center and mixeduse area in the city of Greenfield as well as downtown development strategy, district parking plan, and zoning update for the city of Robbinsdale. Combined, these awards will leverage approximately $140,000 in matching investments, guide over 200 acres of future development to more efficiently use land, better support biking and walking, and impact over 375 businesses. Happy [snorts] to take any questions. >> Thank you so much. colleagues have any questions? Uh, Commissioner Edson, >> I just want to say I'm really supportive and I love this. This is great. I like that two of my cities are in here, too. [laughter] >> Same. Uh, >> I I do really appreciate the uh the effort that we're putting in to make sure that we're reaching out to every community. Um, and particularly seeing Dayton and Greenfield uh in here for planning grants. We know there's a lot of growth happening. um and where these communities are growing. Uh providing some planning uh dollars to help them navigate that water I think is hugely important. We see the benefits um long-term benefits of uh smart and intentional planning uh that gets done that benefits all of our residents. So really happy to see it happening. So thank you so much. Um seeing no other questions or comments, I'll proceed to the vote. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? That item is approved. Item 4 D is the 2026 transit oriented community funding recommendations negotiating five agreements uh with the periods of 51226 to 123128 not to exceed of $1.7 million negotiating three award modifications extending end dates with no changes to the not to exceed amounts. >> Move approval. >> And I will second. Um and we'll welcome Mr. Kelly back out. Thank you again, Chair Anderson, commissioners. This item furthers Henipin Countyy's investment in community. Investing in transit oriented community projects, supports critical social infrastructure needed for vibrant communities, addresses some of the fundamental aspects of climate resilience through land use, and leverages other county funding into transit projects by increasing the economic return and resiliency adjacent to those transit lines. Increasingly, we seek and incentivize community supported development projects and community-based developers, projects in low-income communities and projects that benefit local businesses. Our focus is on not only helping great projects move forward that otherwise wouldn't be feasible, but also projects that help the wealth generated by these developments stay in the communities. The projects recommended for funding today reflect this focus. A competitive request for applications was opened in January of this year. We received the highest number of applications since 2022 with almost $18 million requested, a 60% increase from last year. Applications were reviewed by an inter agency panel and an independent financial consultant. As described in the briefing memo shared last week, five projects are recommended for funding in today's actions. These projects will provide for the redevelopment of four vacant sites, including three brownfields, and the adaptive repositioning of an existing underutilized building to better serve the community. 61 housing units, including 20 units of housing below 60% of area uh median income, with some of those units in a mixeduse project pursu pursued by an emerging developer previously supported through our TOC pre-development program and 65,000 ft of commercial space with 30 affordable commercial spaces. The item before you also approves extending the grant period for three prior three prior year TOC awards. We've seen projects continue to experience typical development challenges, but especially more so in recent years due to uncertainty and fluctuations in financial markets as well as impacts to business operations due to operation metro surge. The extension allows the projects more time to continue to secure full funding and get underway. Be happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you. Questions, comments? Thank you so much. uh it is really exciting to see uh all the development and we know that these projects uh end up being an amplifier for our communities. So uh always happy to see it happening. So uh with that I'll move to the vote. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? That item is approved. Uh and we've reached the end of our agenda. Anything else? I will declare us adjourned. Thank you.