Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> [music] [music] >> Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Administration's Operations and Budget Committee of Tuesday, March 24th. We begin our agenda with item one, which is a budget update. This is March presentation. County Administrator? Chair Gotel, Commissioners, thank you. As you heard at our January update, 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 second update of the year and in today's presentation, you will hear about our progress throughout January and February. Throughout this process, we continue to ground our work in disparity elimination. As demonstrated in Operation Reconnect, our response to Operation Metro Surge, we have redirected resources, prioritized strategies, and continue to bring innovative solutions such as small business relief to assist our community. We remain steadfast in our commitment of services 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, Mr. Matthews. Welcome. Thank you, Madam Chair, Commissioners. Uh brief agenda for today, we'll walk through some year-to-date financials, we'll give you an update on the current federal impacts, and then I'll hand it back to Administrator Wentland to talk about our budget management strategies for the remainder of the year. We can go to the next slide. First [clears throat] slide, just to walk you through. This is a snapshot of where we're at with staffing currently. Uh first column, just to highlight for everyone, we had 9,762 positions in the county budget for 2026. That's down significantly from 2025, when at this time last year, we had just under 10,000. Um I do want to highlight that we did break out the Sheriff's Office and the County Attorney's Office. Those numbers are also captured in the Law, Safety, and Justice line of business. Um as we go to the next column on the under the hired FTEs, that really shows you how many staff have been hired into positions in the departments. Hired means that if you're uh somebody who works 80 hours every 2 weeks, you would be one FTE. These are the positions that are effectively filled. We have 100 fewer positions filled in the county than we had last year. Uh that's a product of us holding positions in 2025 and continuing to hold in 2026. The third column is the variance from budget, so it's just the difference between those two columns. You'll note um one area that I really want to call out is Human Services. When we adopted the 2026 budget, we had an aggressive target for them to reduce their overall staffing to get to a sustainable level. And so they have been working through that. They're doing that through an attrition process. We're not doing layoffs, and they're making fantastic progress. They have about 129 more positions to go to get down to their budgeted level. Uh but again, we're doing that and we're making sure that we're focusing staffing and hiring in the areas where we need them most critically. The other area that I will just uh highlight is the Sheriff is the one other area that's currently over complement. As you're all aware, um there was a number of staffing uh conversations that have been going on, and I think there'll be opportunities for more detail in that conversation as we go through the year. The last column is actual FTEs. So after we've hired staff relative to the budget, obviously, people do not always work a full 80 hours. We have employees who are on paid family leave, they might be on a medical leave of absence, they may be on FMLA or paid military leave. And so you'll notice as we look at the actual column, the total number of actual FTEs uh that we had as of the end of uh February was 9,280. That is about 300 fewer than the prior year. So from in terms of an impact of what's uh hitting our financials, we have 300 fewer full-time staff equivalents on payroll. That's significant for us. We're also again doing that through a prioritized hiring process and a lot of hard work from all of our uh leaders across the county at all levels to to prioritize that. Next slide, please. This slide um I'm going to just walk through. There's a couple different uh charts here in this combination that I want to highlight. I'm going to start with the bar graph. Um there's a blue column and a gray column. The blue column is our 2026 actual spend, and the 2025 actual spend is the gray chart. I'll highlight for the Commissioners that we are actually spending less per month in both January and February than the prior year. It's about $7 million difference. That's largely a product of the holding that we're doing on hiring. So as we have 300 fewer people on payroll, that does show up uh in our financials month to month. The other thing I would highlight is we do not have a linear spend cycle at the county. We don't spend an equal amount per month. You'll notice that the summer months are more active. That's very much driven by um the just the the calendar and the cycle of construction and other activities, things like the assessor's office and some of our summer clerks in the attorney's office. Those all ramp up over the summer. Elections this year in 2026 will obviously ramp up hiring as we go through the summer and into October heading into November. The December column I'll just identify uh is larger. That is when we make our debt service payments. That's the biggest reason for that large uh jump in December. Um and then there's two lines that are on this chart that uh we'll we'll come back to as we go throughout the year and give constant updates. The the gold line is really a straight line representation of the county's monthly spend. And the green line below is really highlighting uh where we're actually spending and you'll notice that the delta between those two is growing month to month. Um it will not always grow or change at a at a linear rate as we go through the summer, but it does show you um how we're continuing to hold tight as we go through and we'll continue to work with departments to evaluate that as we move forward. Next slide, please. Um and you can jump to the next one right away. Just to highlight some federal impacts. These are slides that you've seen before with some updates. Um the the current impacts that we're experiencing right now is really the first round of impacts on the SNAP food security uh cuts. It's a loss of revenue for human services of about $8 million this year. It's just a reduction on what we're paid by the federal government to provide that service. The other thing that I would highlight is again that we have $62 million in federal grants that are currently under various protective orders. As the board is well aware, um the county is party to uh about a half a dozen lawsuits that offer us legal protections so we can continue to draw down those federal dollars. And uh we will continue to update update that as those numbers change if they do change over time. I would also point out that some of those uh protections are the result of work from the attorney general's office and so when they join lawsuits on behalf of the entire state of Minnesota, those sometimes do afford us additional protection as well. And county administration, senior staff, um office of budget and finance have all been working together along with grants management and administration and compliance and the county attorney's office. And so we've had great coordination internally and then with the AG's office as appropriate on those and we're appreciative of that. Next slide, please. There is currently three grants. We've added one more since we last uh gave this update. The first two grants uh had been canceled back in January. So we had one for homeland security for FEMA for shelter and services. There was three grants totaling 8.5 million. Uh 2.7 million was still left to be spent before that grant was canceled. There was also a targeted violence and terrorism prevention program grant from FEMA that was canceled that had about 67,000 left to spend. The last one uh the third grant is the new one and that is a CDC federal infrastructure grant. We did fully expend that grant before it was canceled. So we put it on the list highlighting that that grant was canceled by the federal government before it expired, but we did actually complete all of the work under that grant and we did receive the reimbursement. So we didn't actually lose any funds in that case. Other local governments, if you talk to your peers around the state or county, they may have had unspent portions that were canceled similar to what we described for the two above. Next slide, please. What we're looking for as we move forward are obviously future impacts. We are expecting the next round of SNAP impacts to really center on what they call the error rate. I'll defer to others if you want a more detailed explanation to how that works, but the fiscal impact is a $20 loss of revenue to offset our administrative costs for that work. And that is in addition to the 8 million that was described in the previous slide. So that 20 million would hit our budget in 2027. The next one is HUD and housing security, which we've touched on before. Uh in December, HUD had made a a proposed a change that would have cost communities in Hennepin County about $12 million. They ultimately backed away from that proposal, but we are anticipating that that's the policy that the administration will follow. And even though the administrative process that they were pursuing in December didn't move forward, we would anticipate that through the normal federal appropriations process, that would be the target that they would aim for. So we're watching that. Medicaid for the county departments is something that we continue to evaluate. Um so we've been reaching out to all the finance staff in Northpoint, Hennepin Health, and other areas to try and get our arms around what that impact will be. As soon as we feel confident in those estimates, uh we'll bring that back before the board. But the other big impact um on on Medicaid uh is really going to be what hits the hospital down the street, which you're all aware of. The cumulative impact on Hennepin Healthcare System from 2027 to 2038 is $1.7 billion. You're all very aware of that. Uh there's a proposal on the agenda later today to talk about some ways to try and counteract that. But 1.1 billion of that loss is a loss of directed payments over the next 10 years. And directed payments for those in the public that may not be aware is an enhancement to the Medicaid rate for a safety net government-owned hospitals so they can provide care. Um they obviously lose funds on HR1 will be phasing that out over a 10-year period. The other 600 million or 0.6 billion from Medicaid is an estimate on how much revenue the hospital will lose due to disenrollment. So new eligibility requirements, a more frequent cycle eligibility that will begin costing them to talk about our budget strategies for the rest of the year and happy to come back for any questions. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Mr. Matheny. Welcome. [snorts] Chair, commissioners. We will continue using budget management strategies including um the hiring management that Joe just showing um that we have initiated throughout January and February of this year. We are reviewing our contracts and looking at um contracts and taking a pause on contracts that are not mandated um and we'll review them as we move proceed. We're also reviewing our capital projects. Capital projects are being reprioritized. The county doesn't have the capacity to do everything in the current capital budget all at once. Projects that are high priority and underway will continue work towards completion in 2026 to 2027. However, other projects will be deferred and begin at a later date, late 2027 or 2028. Additionally, where it is feasible, some projects will be slowed down with the original scope of work being stretched, implemented over a longer period of time. Next slide. Leadership will continue to evaluate and plan budget saving strategies and monitor our progress. Our teams in grants management administration and county attorney's office will continue their work on tracking federal impacts. And we plan to return in June with our next update. Before I hand it back to you, chair, I'd like to express the appreciation. This is a lot of hard work um for the leadership in Hennepin County, for our staff, for delivering services to our residents. I want to just say thank you to all of them as we continue to proceed in getting our budget in um a manner that is manageable for our community, but is also found grounded in disparity elimination and serving our residents. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to say that our budget woes right now are significant ourselves right now, in our future, and in the next years to come. And looking at you, county administrator, and your staff to help us out with this. I I appreciate the fact that you have taken this extremely seriously, that you're looking down the road, and that you're making sure that the board is well informed about these things way ahead of time so that we can talk about that. I have one quick question and I'll open it up to uh my colleagues up here, but I'm wondering, are we hearing any more about any other possible significant cuts as we move through some of the process at the federal level? Welcome back, Mr. Matthews. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Uh we have our IGR staff as well as all of our departments who follow those issues closely, monitoring and reporting back when there's issues that have come up. The federal uh uh CRT team that actually does the federal triage of all interaction meets twice a week and actually talks on a daily basis. So we do feel confident that as things are coming up, we hear about them. Uh we are absolutely relying on all of our collective leadership at the uh executive committee and the director level to try and gather up that information. So what we're sharing with you right now is what's on our radar. We obviously don't know what could all come out of absolute response to resident feedback with respect to the financial pressures. So, I I want to thank residents for offering such direct feedback and of course to staff for putting this together. Um on slide eight, I wanted to just acknowledge that the left side for anybody watching at home is it slide eight? The spending under budget for January and February. If you could go to the bar chart. I just want to highlight that the the left numbers are the lines, right? Now, I'm just trying to confirm. Other way. They So, the total budget for the year is the 3.1 billion which is the scale on the right hand side for the lines and then the left is the bar chart. Left is the bar chart and that This is why I'm saying it out loud. I think it Is it not opposite? Estimated monthly is the line and that has the left um amount and then the bar chart says it's cumulative. So, that's the right side. Is that accurate? Yep. Madam Chair uh and Commissioner Fernando, the blue line you're correct. The blue line uh actually that blue line does associate with the the legend on the left. So, the average monthly spend for 2026 if you took the 3.1 billion and just divided it, it would be that blue line. I Yes, so Madam Chair, I just want the public to see cuz the scale is like a 7x 7 and 1/2 x scale and so I just want everyone to just make sure that we appreciate what's happening cuz I'm assuming this will come back. So, the bar chart adds so all 12 months together which is why it gets to over 3 billion on the right and then that that golden rod the yellow line compared to the green one, that's where we're showing an underspend. So, a lot of this is for public transparency. So, I wanted to This is a new chart for us as well. So, I wanted to amplify this chart. I really like this chart. And then I just have two more things, Madam Chair. The current FTEs under budget. I This is a financial update so I can appreciate why it's framed as this. I just want to acknowledge that the workforce has worked really hard um to maintain services at a lower FTE count overall and I want to appreciate the workforce for that this reality acknowledging that this reality is persisting which gets me to slide 12. Um >> [snorts] >> 12. The anticipated cuts slide. Um I I just am noting that under the Hennepin Health Care System, it talks This is about fiscal allocation. But administrative burden is is going to have just as much financial impact on the health and well-being of our organization. And so I don't know how we want that to be displayed here, right? That's not the same. I'm just using EHS as the example the hospital as the example. But it's true for SNAP as well, right? There's the the amount of money uh that is going to go towards SNAP benefits is decreasing and the amount of administrative burden for both workers and residents to attain that lower amount of benefits is increasing. So, in a future uh presentation, it would be favorable for us to understand the financial impact of the administrative demand um kind of next to the the fiscal note if that makes sense so we can as early as possible really gain an understanding of the residential impact and the workforce impact. Really really great work looking forward to future data. Thank you, Madam Chair. Great questions. Um Commissioner Edelson. Uh thank you, Mr. Matthews. Um and to the slide that Commissioner Fernando was talking about, I think slide five. Um what are the with the attrition that we're seeing, what are the cost savings? You might have said it and I missed it. I apologize. What are the cost savings that we're starting to see month over month? Yep. Uh so, relative to last year, uh we've saved about 7 million per month. We're spending 7 million per month less for January and February compared to last year. And then um Madam Chair Mr. Matthews, do we do we anticipate seeing more attrition as the year goes on then and that number growing? Yeah, thank you for that question. Um you know, we're certainly going to continue to hold every position that we can. Um I think as we go through and we see areas where it's really critical. So, for example, if we have an area that really needs to hire to continue to deliver the service, we're going to make that hire. And so we are going to try and hold everywhere that we can. Uh we have not set a concrete target saying we need to get to X positions. We're really trying to prioritize so that if an emergent issue comes up in one area, we know that we have the flexibility that we can make that hire. Again, just to echo Commissioner Wetland's comments, we are really focusing on the service and the residents and we are trying to be as fiscally nimble as we can and that means trying to look for every opportunity for savings while we have that ability to do that and because we're acting early, we do have the flexibility if something comes up. Um and so, not trying to dodge a number on on the specific hires, but we really are going to let that need in the community drive that hiring decision. And then Madam Chair, just one one one further thing on on slide nine, um the Medicaid anticipated cuts we still have as TBD for the county. We'll have specific um We have a lot of Medicaid services within that. Do we have an anticipated time when we can start getting projections of what that's going to look like? Yeah, Madam Chair Commissioner Edelson, yeah, we are close to having that ready. Uh we were going to try to have that at this presentation, but we're just not quite confident yet on how solid those numbers will be. We want to make sure that when we bring you information in this setting that it is numbers that we're confident will hold. Um so, I would expect that we'd have those by June. We may communicate something earlier than June uh just cuz I know it's been a point of interest for all of you. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Anderson. Uh thank you. Actually, the that was my question. Uh so, thank you at the um but kind of as a follow-up on that, is there like a degree of certainty that you're looking to achieve like there's with cuts especially um Medicaid services and how uh kind of interdependent it is on so many different things. Um I think when you present it or when you provide us the information, some like level of certainty if you have it um like we're 95% sure or 50% sure. Like I think that's uh that's helpful. Um I don't expect everything especially in projections to be 100% perfect. Um but understanding like where it is, I think is helpful. So, thank you. Um Commissioner Green. Um thank you, Madam Chair. Um thank you so much for this work and I know it's a team effort so big thanks to everybody and I want to echo something that Commissioner Fernando said about um workers specifically frontline workers. You know, this work it feels because 2026 the setting of the 2026 budget is behind us that really we're looking to the future and we're at the beginning of a process and it's just going to get harder and everybody is doing more with less and that's not going to stop. Um so, I just want to really thank people who are absorbing that. Um I also wanted to commend this format. I know I said this a couple months ago when we sort of saw this for the first time, but this is just so um understandable and it's I think it's great for us. It's also great for our residents um and I look forward to pointing people towards these minutes of this meeting. Uh and I'm really appreciative of the regular updates. I had a question about slide eight. Um that's the grants terminated slide. I wanted to just make sure that there's an effort across the county to spend money >> [laughter] >> that's um federally granted. I'm sure there is, but I see your head nodding. Thank you. Yeah, Madam Chair Commissioner Green, I can assure you um our departments have been really phenomenal over the past year. Uh we've always had a culture at the county to try to leverage our federal and state resources as best we can. And so they are doing a really great job of trying to execute. We have asked them to slow down a a little bit just to make sure we can evaluate all of the new terms and conditions that have been presented and there's been a lot of other administrative roadblocks and you know, the earlier comment, there's the fiscal impact that we're highlighting, but there is a lot of additional administrative work that has happened. And so again, um you know, there's a cross-departmental team that on a daily basis is helping our departments navigate that process and I think we're very happy that we've not had them um sitting back on the work. They're getting the work done and then we're trying to move very quickly to get the actual reimbursement back from the federal government timely. So, yes, I can assure you our goal is to safely draw down any federal dollars that we can and then identify anywhere we feel that there's terms or conditions that are problematic for us and we don't certainly don't want to be out of compliance as we move forward in our work. Thank you. Like that I so appreciate that answer was a which is a mixture of yes, the urgency and it doesn't behoove us to be like completely willy-nilly um and you know, thank you. Sounds fantastic. Um The other slide that I wanted to comment on is slide nine. This is the anticipated cuts. So, just for those listening at home, like notice that the dollar figures here have the letter B by them. Um you know, this is presented and I appreciate it in a very matter-of-fact way so that people can come to their own conclusions. The facts speak for themselves here. But these numbers are insane. Um if you think that our annual budget is 3.something billion and these figures are basically half of that. Um, so I just wanted to pause and acknowledge the magnitude here. No direction to change how this is communicated because I think these figures speak for themselves. Um, but this is really big and I really appreciate that we're sticking to this as Commissioner Fernando said again, like a new a new exercise for us as a board to be so much a part of this at the early in the year, but these numbers, I mean, absolutely warranted it and um you know, we're we're ready to do the difficult work. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Landy. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, first uh, appreciation for staff for pulling this together. I know this is our first and it's not the only and then we'll continue to refine that and I think, you know, we do have a lot of uh, budget items up in the air at the same time. The hospital foremost of among all, uh, you know, the unknowns uh, even though it's somewhat in our control. Um is it possible and uh, the answer can be no. But I'm curious about FTEs that we share with other jurisdictions. So if you think about social workers at cities um, or joint community policing partnership, they can be a 30% or 40% uh, where we're paying 60%. They may cuz cities are not sitting flush on cash, may start to think, okay, Brooklyn Park, we have three, we're going to pull back to two. So now suddenly we've lost 30% of the revenue um, and we're sitting on a FTE. So I I I would anticipate that everyone else is going to be doing the same exact thing that we are. So any FTEs that we have that's a shared budget, I think might be interesting to point out. Is it a big number? No, but could it be a number? I think it could very well could be. Um, you know, we're talking like, you know, 10 people could be a thing in there and then we're eating the full budget. Um, so curious on that where we have FTEs that we share budgets with. And then um, and again, if that's you know, too much, but I think there's a few areas that really come into play. Um, I'm also very curious about um, and I'll ask this every time we do the budget. I want to know when Minneapolis is going to start reimbursing for police time. Uh, the time that the sheriff spends patrolling. Uh, you know, as cities are the primary uh, police enforcement inside the city if they're incorporated. Uh, Minneapolis is certainly has a budget. They are certainly chewing up time. I have myself, I know Commissioner Fernando, we've had cities that had to pay when they got short staffed and they had to pay us money, time and a half to have us do that. Minneapolis isn't is a driver of the sheriff's budget um, and it does cause the overtime that we are doing unreimbursed time that no other city could get away with. We would make every other city cover that. And the other thing I want to highlight is it's also every contract has an indemnification which means if there's a lawsuit, that is another property tax burden that if we have to settle a lawsuit, we self-insure. We don't have insurance company to write premiums to. So anything that we have only one city that doesn't have to indemnify us also comes back to that same thing which is we have to if there's a lawsuit um, if we have to settle, that means that it is another area where non-Minneapolis is being is reimbursing. So I will continue to ask that because I think it is important. Um, you know, a lawsuit can if something goes one way or the other can be anywhere from two to four million dollars. Um, and so that does directly affect people. That is one of the key parts I always think about when we do these contracts is indemnification and so that we are there doing that as well. So uh, they have the budget. They have the budget for all their officers. They don't have all their officers which means they have unused budget. They can uh, cough it up and I mean it because we made Brooklyn Center, my city, cough it up uh, and they are definitely not a rich city and they definitely don't have a lot of money sitting around to do that. So I think we need to redouble that effort at every level is impacting the sheriff's office budget in a negative way. Um and I don't appreciate the fact that only one city gets away with not having to do it when my city who has limited means had to. Um and then, you know, I think the other part I would like to see is is the best time to start partnerships is three years ago cuz it'll probably take us two to three years to get a partnership formed like 911, like all the different things that we have duplicated services, not just us, the cities, the counties. I've heard loud and clear from property tax owners saying, you guys need to figure some of this out. Well, one of the ways we can is stop having all these services where every city offers one of the same thing or this and that that we need to have honest conversations and if we don't start now we're not going to see those changes for a couple years. I just know how time works, but if we don't start at some point and I this isn't a lecture, it's more of a plea like we've got to find a way cuz every city has the same property tax problem, right? Every school district has the same property tax thing and the county does as well. If we don't start to find ways that we can start to share resources, I like the tax assessors. I think the other cities should just say this is something the county is going to cover, cut the budget. My city of Brooklyn Park could save 1.5 million if they would do that. I have no idea why that isn't done. Um, that is a savings that would hit the property taxes of Brooklyn Park. So I think that there's something and I know county administrators get together and I know you talk with city administrator. I think we should be asking them. I don't think it should be an ask. I think it really should be a demand cuz the property taxpayers are just like everybody's going up eight to 12%. Every single one of them and uh, last time I checked wages aren't going up that high. So uh, I think it's really a plea to all of us to think about how we can do things um, differently and do it together uh, because I just think we're pricing people out uh, with when we do all these different things and we're not individually doing it, it's us collectively and therefore I think the solution is on that um as well. So thank you. Thank you. Um, Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Madam Chair and thank you, Mr. Matthews and Administrator Wetlund and just everybody, all the staff who who work really hard to put these budgets together. Commissioner Landy reminded me that I have not spoken yet about looking at new revenue sources which is my favorite thing to do. Um, counties have been put in a terrible position um, being that we are limited in where our revenue streams come from. Property taxes, federal grants and state dollars um, with a few one-offs here and there, but ultimately that's where the majority, the bulk of our revenue comes from. We cannot rely on federal grants anymore and property taxes we can't continue to to go upwards in in that area. And so I know that we're looking at several ways to um, to diversify our revenue stream so to speak um, through various ordinances and I know that that our staff, our brilliant staff have been looking at what else, where else can we look at to bring in new revenue to our county cuz I think that that within that conversation around what counties are up against right now is also the conversation around how are we going to get out of it. And part of it is dedicated new revenue and part of it is um, dedicated new revenue from spaces we may have not collected revenue from before. So I think that that's also part of um, why we're getting these budget updates because we're in a situation now that we haven't seen ourselves in before and um, counties across the country are experiences experiencing what I like to call uh, the squeeze, this attack against counties that limit our ability um, to do what we're obligated to do and mandated to do because our revenue streams are just so will look like six months from now, what they'll look like next week. Uh, but I think that that's a big part of this is what revenue um, that are we not getting that we should be and then also what new revenue do we need to explore? So thank you. Thanks. Any comments? Okay. Well, thank you, colleagues. I really appreciate Thank you, Mr. Matthews. Thank you, Administrator. We will move on in the agenda to item two which is the minutes from the previous meeting of March 10th, 2026. I'll entertain a motion. >> Move approval. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any corrections or changes? All those in favor, signify by I. I. >> I. Motion carries. We have several items in the routine. I will read them. If anybody wants an explanation, please just let me know. Item 3A is a principal agreement with Wayzata Public Schools for fiber optic collaboration starting 4/7 of 2026 through 12/31 of 2027. I'll move this. Do I have a second? Second. Move. Any questions? Comments? All those in favor, signify by I. I. I. Motion carries. Item 3B is to reallocate $69,725 in state fiscal year 2026 Youth at Work funding from Lutheran Social Service to Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority, Brooklyn. Would you like to move it, Mr. Commissioner Landy? This is your baby. Thank you, Madam Chair. Please, I would like to move it, yes. I'll second it. Any any discussion? All those in favor, signify by I. I. >> I. Motion carries. Item 3C is to negotiate agreement with PFM Financial Advisors LLC to provide municipal advisory services from 5/1/2026 to 4/30/2031. Do I have a motion? I'll move it. Second. It's moved and seconded. Any Any descriptions anyone needs? Commissioner Anderson. Yeah, if I could I would just appreciate a quick overview of this one. Thank you. Madam [clears throat] Chair and Commissioner Anderson, Sarah Brown from the Office of Budget and Finance is here and can uh speak to Welcome, Ms. Brown. Uh good afternoon, Madam Chair, County Board members. My name is Sarah Brown. I'm the new Debt and Investment Manager backfilling for Kathy Cardel, who is retiring April 3rd. Before you is a Board Action request to negotiate a contract with PFM Financial Advisors LLC for municipal advisory services. Per the Hennepin County Debt Management Policy, it is the practice of the county to retain an independent registered municipal advisor to provide services related to the structuring, rating, and issuance of all debt issues of the county. Municipal advisors have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of their clients. The county does an RFP for municipal advisory services every 5 years. Our current contract is with PFM and expires on August 31st, 2026. As part of the procurement process, the RFP was sent directly to six firms actively engaged in providing municipal advisory services as well as made publicly available through the The county's procurement portal. Two firms responded to the RFP, Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors and PFM Financial Advisors LLC. The firms were evaluated by representatives of OBF and the County Attorney's Office with assistance from purchasing. The evaluation panel concluded that PFM's proposal best met all criteria set forth in the RFP and to be awarded the contract. The proposed agreement with PFM has a 5-year term from May 1st, 2026 through April 30th, 2031. It's likely that Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority, Hennepin County Healthcare Inc., and possibly other county affiliates will require services of a municipal advisor. Therefore, it is recommended that PFM serve as municipal advisor to those entities as well. And with that, I'll stand for any additional questions. Commissioner Anderson. Thank you so much. I just really appreciate having that overview. As I think this is a 5-year term, I don't recall hearing about this in the past, so I just appreciate getting that that update. So, thank you. Certainly. I'll call the question. All those in favor signify by I. I. Motion carries. Thank you, Ms. Brown. And we have one item for discussion and action. That is an agreement with a Minneapolis Foundation to receive matching funds for an anti-displacement community prosperity program. Do I have a motion for this? >> I'll move the R1, Madam Chair. Oh, there was an R1. >> And I'll second. >> [clears throat] >> It's moved and seconded. Could administration give us a update? Madam Chair, Kay Adam is here to provide a discussion on this item. Welcome, Ms. Adam. Um I want to begin by thanking you all for your approval last year to move forward with 14 contracts totaling about $2 million across the three ACPP pillars, housing stability, business stability, and real estate development. Since that time, we've been hard at work translating that approval into action. The vast majority of those contracts are now either fully executed or in the final stages of signature with only a small number remaining. Today's request is a continuation of that work and an important step in strengthening the program's foundation. As many of you know, the ACPP legislation requires that all program expenditures are be matched with non-state funding. This agreement with the Minneapolis Foundation establishes a clear and reliable mechanism for Hennepin County to receive philanthropic dollars that can serve as that match. It allows us to align those funds directly with the ACPP board. We are recommending your approval for it. Thank you. I know some of my colleagues have worked diligently on this. Commissioner Fernando. Madam Chair, I just want to thank Kay and the entire team for the problem-solving. This This particularly piece of legislation really came from the community and was approved by lawmakers, and so >> [sighs and gasps] >> we were we were identified as the administrative entity, and statute is not as clarifying as we would always prefer, and so I just want to express gratitude for the problem-solving and creativity on behalf of the resident demand via this legislation, and obviously a project that I care a lot about and that will absolutely transform the trajectory of what's possible in that region. So, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you. Commissioner Green, did you have any additional comments? >> Um yes, thank you. I was just going to thank Kay and the team. Excuse me, [clears throat] there's a lot of interest in this, and uh to say a lot of interest is really a bit of an understatement, but both from the legislature and from the community, and I so appreciate the responsiveness that is demonstrated here. Uh and I know that there's going to be a lot of gratitude in the community. Thank you. On that subject of gratitude, I want to extend a lot of gratitude to our Housing Stability area, who have been working behind the scenes to move processes to make sure that we're able to address the the renter stability and the housing crisis that we have in our community, and staff in OBF and in purchasing who've been really working behind the scenes to make sure that we're adapting programs and services and and processes to make sure that the contracts are on track. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. All those in favor signify by I. I. Motion carries. We have two items of addendum. Item 3E is support and increase to the county sales tax to support Hennepin Healthcare System, North Memorial, and Target Field offered by Commissioners Conley and Landy. Um who would like to move it and second it? I'll move it, Madam Chair. Second. Uh Commissioner Conley, would you like to start? I will start. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, this really is no surprise to all of us. We have been working very hard along with our Intergovernmental Relations team to bring in the dedicated revenue that we need to save the hospital. And so, what this Board Action does is codify that and and express express our explicitly express what it is through these whereas clauses in the background that we are trying to do. Um a great timeline of events of how we learned about the the financial position of the hospital in addition to what we're expecting to come down, what we've just heard from our budget briefing, what we're what we are expected to see from the federal government cuts, and the the dollar amount of what we could receive should what we're doing in the legislature work in our favor. Um I will pass it to Commissioner Landy, my IGR co-chair, in just a moment, but I want to express my full support for what our strategy is. I talked to a lot of people, and I hear that, you know, Hennepin County came in with our with our problem. We also came in with our solution. And I think that's that's really important that we have stuck to that, and that it's it's seen a lot of support. Um what we're trying to do for the hospital financially in stabilizing it and keeping it open is something that I have seen support for across um any ideological view, any side of the aisle, whatever you want to call it. People know that we have a hospital that is a benefit to the region. We have a hospital that's a benefit to the state and to the city in which it resides, and we all have stories of care that we have received at the hospital, and we all have a vested interest in keeping this this hospital functional. It is telling, though, the situation that that hospitals are finding themselves in all across the country with what is in HR1, frankly, which is devastating to our healthcare system. This is our way of keeping our health system intact. Commissioner Landy. Thank you. Highlight I think Commissioner Conley covered the basics. It's just the importance of it. I would say there's a lot of work to go, and I'll say as of today, it's 54 days. And the reason I keep a daily count is because at the end of the 54 days, if we don't have action from legislature, then we start a new process, and that process isn't a good one. And I'm going to call it out because I wanted to be very blunt and honest with everybody that we would begin process of of closure. That we can't levy property taxes to cover this shortfall. Um and so, we're here at this moment. We are getting good feedback from legislature. I think people said, "Hey, have you guys taken an official stamp on this?" And so, that's why this motion is before us because as we propose what we can, that we have much work to do, and even if we're successful, we then are rewarded with even more work. But at least at point, we'll have light at the end of the tunnel, and that will have the ability because, you know, as I'll remind people, a hospital that isn't open serves no one. And what we have found that it serves everyone across this great state and also in our neighbor states and anybody in the time of need. And so, that with that disappearing, that would be a loss to the entire state, and I think that legislators um have really from both sides have really recognized that and have charted a problem-solving. So, we've brought forth our best idea, and very much open to any idea. But one thing I'll just say is any other solution has to be it can't just be every year it's up to the whims of whether they fund it. It has to be repeatable. It has to be there because of the importance of this. Thank you. Other colleagues would like to comment or questions? I just want to say I want to thank you. I'll give it to you in a moment. I want to thank Commissioner Landy and Commissioner Conley for the work that you have done down the legislature and Commissioner Fernando, I know you've made calls as well. And to our IGR staff who continue the tireless work of trying to lobby folks and bring folks to the table so that we can solve this problem that needs to be solved immediately. Commissioner Green. Um thank you um Madam Chair and and thank you colleagues for bringing this forward. I'm very support clearly. Excuse me, I wanted to just I guess say into the microphone that I'm very supportive of any and all idea that can pass in this legislative session. So, thank you. Commissioner Anderson. Thank you Madam Chair and yes, uh echoing my gratitude to Commissioner Conley and Commissioner Landy for uh your work at the legislature uh working with um our our colleagues at the state um and um and I know so many others, right? It's not just you two or you three. I know we've all had conversations, but um echoing your comment into the microphone, the the importance of getting something done this year is really what's important. Um I I've been asked many times um do you like a sales tax? And I say no, but I really dislike losing health care way more than I dislike a sales tax. And so, I think we need to make sure that we are very clear that this is about prioritizing people's lives um in a time when uh the federal government has shifted so much responsibility onto local property taxpayers who don't have uh the means to cover the the cost shifts. Um it's not a comfortable place for anybody to be in, but I think it's an important acknowledgement that we need to have some kind of stable funding for health care. Uh and Hennepin County is going to again lead the way in showing how this the rest of the state how to take care of our health care system. Um because our problem in Hennepin is not unique to Hennepin either. This is happening in hospitals across the state. And I really hope that the legislature in in its future iterations can figure out how to um support health care across every community in the state because that's what we really need. Um it points out in this in this resolution that 30% of our uh patient population comes from outside of Hennepin County and 40% of our trauma patients uh of the uncompensated care come from outside of Hennepin County. Um that shows how important it is uh to the rest of the state and to the region. It's not just us. So, uh happy to support this um and really acknowledge too that if there are other ideas that can pass this year, I'm all ears. So. Go ahead, Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to add to that, you know, as many times as as we all have been to the capital or have had conversations, one thing is stands out to me and that's that Hennepin County Medical Center employs 7,000 workers. And these are workers who show up with their best selves to provide the best care in the region. I'm not biased. I'm just saying. They show up every day to make sure that patients are cared for um during some of the worst days of their lives. We've had several significant horrible events over the last year and our hospital staff and workers have showed up with dignity, respect, and care for their workers. So, that very large workforce of this hospital, I've seen them at the capital. I've seen them in conversations in community and they care about this hospital just as much as we're here enough to save it. Um so, I I didn't want to leave that out. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Seeing no further comments or questions, um all those in favor signify by I. I. Opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Our last item is 3F, which is to authorize supplemental appropriations to amend the 2025 Sheriff's Office budget. I'll move approval. Second. It's moved and seconded. Mr. Rogan. Madam Chair, Joe Matthews, our Chief Financial Officer is here to present this item. Welcome back, Mr. Matthews. Thank you, Madam Chair. We're in the process of closing out the financials for 2025. And for the audience, every year we go through this process in the spring of kind of tidying up our books at the end. When a department goes over budget, we're required by law to amend that budget and provide resources. The county cannot actually close its books with a deficit or having anybody in excess of their budget authority. The Sheriff's budget in this resolution is receiving a supplemental appropriation of just over $15.4 million. The board has had multiple conversations throughout 2025 about challenges that that office was facing. Most of this is due to personnel services. I would draw your attention to the attached schedule. There's three different sources of revenue that we're using here. First, I would highlight that there's some restricted fund balance in the general fund. That reflects state public safety aid that was appropriated in 2023. We received that in one lump sum that year and it was planned and spent and budgeted over a three-year period. So, we're that $3.4 million is the last of that public safety aid provided by the legislature. We also have about $288,000 in the Sheriff's forfeiture funds that are being utilized. And then the most significant amount is uh our unrestricted fund balance where we're authorizing use of $11.7 million to offset those expenses in that area. If you have additional questions, I'm happy to answer them. Um we will have another resolution coming later uh this spring, probably in late April or early May that will wrap up the remaining departments. Um the others are not this significant in terms of the overage, but it is normal for us to have some small number of departments each year that we do have to tidy up. Questions or comments from my colleagues? Commissioner Fernando first. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. So, $11.7 million from unrestricted fund balance. And that's So, the total amount $15.4 million, is that like 1.7 levy points or what's the Let's talk in levy points just [clears throat] because we're already talking about next year's budget and if you could just clarify, I'd appreciate it. Madam Chair, I believe that for 2027, a 1% increase in the county's levy generates about $11 million. So, if you were to levy for this, it would be probably about 1.2, 1.3 million, somewhere in that range. So, Madam Chair, just the comment is I for the whole organization, this board really is seeking to kind of look under the hood and really ensure that we truly understand each expenditure and trying to get that just as early as possible. So, for those who are following at home, uh this county board will vote on its maximum levy in September, which means all of that financial analysis really is finalized over the summer. So, it might feel like this is all front-loaded, but it's quite right on time in terms of making sure that we have the chance we the county board has the chance to really review each aspect of the precious resources that residents are um providing via property tax and of course other sources. So, from a levy perspective for next year, this is in the one and one and a half point kind of range. One levy point just from the unrestricted fund balance and then the total amount being about one and a half levy points. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Madam Chair. I was just going to say that that's $11 million from our savings account. And one of the reasons why I authored the board action that we approved unanimously to keep this office within its budget for 2026 is I don't believe that $11 million from our savings account or even higher than that is sustainable ongoing. Um so, I just wanted to say that into the record that I'm very clear that we have said to all of our departments that we need to stay in budget for all of the reasons that we've discussed today, whether it's the hospital or the budget overview that you gave us at the beginning of this committee. We have got to be very mindful of where we are over budget and where we need to rein things in. And so, um this time of year is when we do this reconciliation, so I'm used to it. I've seen it before, but I do see dollar amounts continuing to rise every time we do this reconciliation, specifically for this department. And so, um I just want to be clear that I don't think that we can continue to tap into that savings account ongoing um because of the headwinds that we're facing. Thank you. Commissioner Landy. Commissioner Green. Um thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to um echo some of the remarks that have been shared already. Um you know, as Commissioner Conley alluded to, this is an annual process and so we are used to seeing you know, documents like this come across basically for the for every department in the county or every section of the county if we don't want to say department. Um >> [clears throat] >> excuse me, but I don't want that um repeated uh process to convey any sense that it doesn't all get combed over with a fine-tooth comb. And given everything that we've been discussing today, especially about the budget, uh you know, this is no exception. And with dollar figures like this, they're you know, it is just not business as usual. It cannot be at this magnitude. Period. Let alone given what the duress that the county is under in other ways. So, thank you for remarks that have been made and I wanted to just second them. I just want to make a comment about when a department or an office, this is an office, has a budget this far outstanding over over and above what they should have been spending. It lends to more scrutiny. It does for us. And we need to put guardrails around these kinds of things and we will and we have been. And I just want to thank the staff and I think we'll be looking at it much more closely and on a regular monthly basis to make sure we can shift or change or make some hard choices if we have to in the future to make sure that this particular office comes in on budget. And I think that that's very significant and we have to get serious about this. Go ahead, Commissioner Adelson. I just have to I wasn't going to speak, but I just have to offer the the alternative also of this is the sheriff's office has it has very unpredictable job and I thank her for her service. Public safety is one of the number one things the constituents in my in my community care about. So, it is not all on the sheriff for having a a budget that goes above because the the needs change. The needs change. And so, it's not as predictable as it could possibly be. So, I just I just want to make sure that there's that is being said on the record as well. Commissioner Green. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Commissioner Adelson, for for adding that point of view and those comments to this conversation. One thing that I'm planning on doing in the next coming weeks is is and actually before I dive into what I'm doing in the next couple weeks, let me also say thank the sheriff for her hard work and her leadership of her team and her presence in the community. >> [gasps] >> Um so, the something that I want to do in the next couple weeks is reacquaint myself with the legislation that creates Hennepin County and that creates the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office because I know something that I've heard repeatedly over the last 12 years of service is that the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is not actually responsible for public safety on the streets. That that is a responsibility of police departments. And I share your your you know, the voice of your constituents, my constituents as well, who are concerned about public safety and and I know Commissioner or I'm sorry, Sheriff Witt has talked about like well, when somebody calls 911, my objective as a peace officer is to ensure safety. And yet, [clears throat] my understanding of the mandate of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is to run the jail, safely transport transfer people from the jail to the court system, provide for public safety in very small communities in western Hennepin County that do not have the sort of tax base to have their own police force, and provide public safety on bodies of water, the river, Lake Minnetonka. And so, I I want to sort of reconnect with what that language says and the pressure that has been put on her office and this budget and see where see where I net out on these on this, but I do have questions for both I guess I have I I want us to look and reconsider the community ambitions for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office when it is not funded to provide public safety for Hennepin County. That is the role of local police departments. Thank you. Commissioner Adelson, you want to respond? Yeah, Madam Chair, and I just pulled up the statute actually. So, I just want to It's it's here. Let's just talk about it. So, Minnesota statute 38703, the sheriff shall keep and preserve the peace. That's public safety. Pursue pursue and apprehend felons. Execute court orders, warrants, and legal process and attend district court when required. Then it goes into the jail and custodial requirements, court security and transport, service and process. So, I I just I just want us to be when we're having these conversations, the information is we can it's it's access accessible. And again, I just we have to look at I always say with public policy, you can zoom in, you can zoom out, and you can see the whole big picture. And again, some of this is not completely within the control of the sheriff. And it's not within the control of us because there's by statute, we have to we have to allow her and her office to perform certain duties or we're not in compliance with the law. So, I I'm I'm all done now. Okay, Commissioner Green. Thank you, and thank you so much for pulling up the language. I really appreciate this. This conversation reminds me a little bit of a tour that I took last year that was it was through the National Association of Counties and the it was down along the border and the idea was to look at the border wall and sort of see the pressure that border patrol is under and you know, their hope of course that we would all was that we would all walk away and say, "Oh my gosh, like they need more funding. We've got to put more people along the border so that we can you know, defend our borders and all that." And my takeaway was where no matter where I fall on the issue of the border, we are throwing good money after bad if we think that there's a way to to to secure the border. It is like this multi-hundred-mile-long stretch that there is not enough money in the United States to quote-unquote secure. And so, in this case, I asked myself like are we you know, we are not funding the sheriff to provide safety, public safety for Hennepin County. And so, and and also, I'm not I guess I'm going to you know, reveal my cards. I'm not willing to fund the sheriff to provide public safety for Hennepin County. I don't think that that can be something that that office can take on and do well. I think there has to be more pressure put on the local police forces and I really appreciate what Commissioner Lundy teed up about the city of Minneapolis. I've already emailed staff to ask for more information about that. You know, she is not I'm sorry, the sheriff's office is not set up to succeed to provide public safety for Hennepin County. And so, I think we should take a look at that. Thank you. Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, to me this is really is just about the budget. All departments are unpredictable. Last year when they threatened when the feds cut SNAP, Hennepin County had to find millions of dollars to infuse into our food banks so that people could eat. And just last week, two weeks ago, we found $2 million to give to small businesses who couldn't stay open during the surge. So, I would say that all of our departments, all areas within the county, all offices are unpredictable because we don't know what the federal government is going to do at any given moment. And so, we have to be able to respond to our mission and our vision. We also have to be mindful of the budget that we work on from February to September. I think you you all started in February throughout the year so that we can have a good budget set by December by the end of the year. And I know that we work with every office, the county attorney, the sheriff, we work with every department within our jurisdiction here to come to a budget that that we can manage for the following year. So, that's what we did last year in 2026. We set a budget that everybody, you know, contributed to. All departments, all offices contributed to that budget. And now we're reconciling that budget to the tune of $11 million overage. What I don't want to see happen and what we can't afford to see happen is that when we're doing this in March of 2027, there aren't double-digit millions that we have to account for because we don't have the money to do it. We won't have the money to do it. HR1 goes into effect January 1. SNAP cuts are already happening. So, for me this is a budget this isn't about anybody's office and how they run it or what their obligations are. It's about when we set a budget, the the anticip the when we set a budget, the obligation is to stick to that budget. That's what our taxpayers expect us to do. That's what we are obligated to do as elected officials setting this budget and approving it and voting on it at the end of the year. And so, my expectation is that every department comes into the budget they were asked to come into. Because yes, we might have to go into the savings account to make sure people can eat when SNAP gets cut. We might have to go into the savings account to make sure that people and organizations that provide food to the community are well funded. I know that we had to pull back some of those dollars last year because we couldn't afford to do it, right? So, there's a a ton of things that we're just up against right now. A ton of headwinds as we say that we're up against. And my goal is to make sure that we all, every office, every department stays within the budget that they are set to stay into. And to make sure that it's a budget that makes sense to them. And for 11 months out of the year, you all are doing that. So, thank you. Thank you. All those in favor signify by I. I. I. Opposed. >> [clears throat] >> Motion carries. And I call it adjourned. I am I am next. One motion? I'm going to that we really want to have deep discussions about you. I know. I will call to order our our Public Works Committee for today. Our first item on the agenda is to approve the minutes from our March 10th meeting. May I have a motion? So moved. Second. 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? The minutes are approved. We have several routine items, items 2A through uh 2 H. I. No, I'm I'm separating 2I um as a non-construction uh item, but all item 2A through 2H are all construction contract related and I would look to move those as a block. May I have a motion for the block? So moved. Second. I have a motion and a second for the block. I'll read them into the record and if my colleagues have any questions about any individual project, uh certainly ask. Um item 2A is to negotiate agreements for reconstruction of University Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast and jurisdictional transfer of a portion of University Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast with no county cost. Uh item 2B is an authorization to acquire right-of-way by direct purchase or condemnation for various transportation projects across the county. Uh item 2C is negotiate an agreement with Crystal for cost participation and maintenance for CSA 102 or Douglas Drive in Crystal with an estimated receivable of about $290,000. Item 2D is to negotiate an agreement with Shorewood for cost participation at County Road 19 and Shorewood Lane. Uh a subproject that exists Well, not going to read that number. Uh with a not to exceed of $186,000 of county bonds. Item 2E is to negotiate an agreement with Minnetonka for cost participation and maintenance responsibilities of Minnetonka Boulevard uh with a county cost not to exceed of $500,000 in county bonds. Uh 2F is to negotiate an agreement with Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for cost participation, maintenance, and ownership of Golden Valley Road uh with a county cost not to exceed of just over $270,000 in county bonds. Item 2G is to negotiate an agreement with Minneapolis uh and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for county sponsorship of Lake Harriet Parkway rehabilitation project establishing project budget of $320,000. It's a state park road account fund. Uh and 2H is an amendment to uh uh amendment 2 with HNTB Corp and extending the period to 12/31/29 increasing the not to exceed of six uh just over $6.3 million with with county cost of 3 and 1/2 million of state uh GO bonds um and 2.8 uh in uh state aid uh dollars. Any comments or questions on any of these? The last one is our Hennepin Avenue suspension bridge, just calling that attention to that project. Um Seeing none, all those in favor of the block say I. I. Any opposed? Those items are approved. Item 2I is another routine item to negotiate an agreement with SKB Environmental for transfer station and transportation services for a period of 4/15/26 to 12/31/33 with a 1.3 million not to exceed. I'll move this. Do I have a second? >> Second. We have a second. Do my colleagues want to have uh this explained as well? It's just a continuation of another contract of Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? That item is approved. Item 2J is to negotiate an agreement with uh ACET Inc. to provide multi-family recycling assistance uh period 4/7/26 to 3/20 uh 3/31/28 with a total not to exceed of $583,888. May I have a motion? >> And a second? >> Second. We have a motion and a second. Uh Ms. Wenlin. Chair, commissioners. Um Ben Knutson from Environment and Energies Energy is here and provide background. Thank you, Mr. Knutson. Chair Anderson, commissioners. My name is Ben Knutson with Environment and Energy. Uh to start, I'd like to you to think just for a moment about your experience with recycling in apartment buildings. Maybe you were lucky and everything was perfect. But maybe there wasn't recycling service available at all. Uh maybe recycling was available, but it was 10 times more inconvenient than the trash. Or maybe there was only one space for a recycling bin and it was overflowing. Uh these are common barriers for many people and it leads to recyclables ending up in the trash. But Hennepin County has a multi-family recycling program. We've had that in place for many years, but recently, 4 years ago, we expanded that program in a major way. We contracted with a vendor to provide outreach and technical assistance to multi-family properties to amplify the county's efforts. That work concludes site visits, door knocking, doing presentations, distributing educational materials improving dumpster setups, and improving labeling and signage. And it connects people to the resources that the county has available. That includes [clears throat] grants for bins and compostable bags, hauling services uh enclosure improvements, chute retrofits, and education and training. The resolution before you continues that work. It builds on it. And staff are recommending a contract with ACET Inc. to provide recycling education and technical assistance to multi-family properties. And ACET is a woman-owned, minority-owned small business enterprise with extensive experience in community engagement and coordination of technical assistance. And I'll close by highlighting that this work does directly relate to one of the priorities to for our plan to reinvent the solid waste system, which is to ensure that every individual has equitable access to zero waste tools. And with that, I can answer questions. Thank you so much. I see Commissioner Fernando. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to express gratitude for this program and its growth. Um very excited to support this and have uh heard really positive feedback from multi-family residents. My request but um I'm voting in favor of it. My request when it comes back before board is if you're willing to do a little bit of a breakdown as to where these multi-family units are um that we that this contract would support or just get to get an understanding of where in the county um we are offering the service and uh if possible an understanding of if that local city is also investing in the service. Um again, we are at a time period where the same right, we share residents and we're sharing services and beginning with data around who is funding what is a very favorable as we consider future prioritization. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Commissioner Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And along those same lines, um I'm interested The background says that the Met Council estimates there's over um more than 215,000 multi-family units in Hennepin County and I wondered what this work um it looks like we would be contracting for the next couple of years, how many of those um multi-family households might be be able to get um these services too. Chair Anderson, Commissioner Connolly, when you when we have in there, we'll reach out to 115 new properties. That doesn't include repeat visits. And so, I think we were thinking anywhere from 6 to 9,000 new units. It's kind of again, mult- multiple units in in those properties. And then maybe double that for if you're including repeat site visits. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Landy. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um just a couple quick questions. Um >> [clears throat] >> is is it possible to understand the depth and breadth of our challenge with so many older apartments were never built to have more than just a single trash receptacle? I mean, whether it's a dumpster or the size. I mean, there's just physical dimensions that go into when you offer recycling, then when you add composting on that older apartments were never designed for that. It's just you throw everything in the same thing and it got picked up. Um and so, I'm curious cuz I believe one of our challenges is you have older apartments that just simply physically do not have the space. Um and I get to this because when the city of Brooklyn Park said, "You got to move all your trash cans in as a mayor. And then we added recycling and then people were like, my garage has only got so many places for cans and you've just required me to move another can in and you know, you had compost in. So, I believe that there's a physical limit to how much we can actually capture and recycle in from multi-family if you actually look at what some of those places actually have for people to throw into. Um, and so that part and then the other part is do I'm curious about do cities since we don't do zoning, thank god. Um, that uh the cities do that that are they requiring new construction to have the space to offer all these services? I assume they would, but I honestly have approved a few apartments. I can't think that I've ever asked the question about did the new newly constructed place actually have the services to break these different apart. So, I'm kind of asking you know, resident can't and do it and the owner who owns a building that has one place for a big trash container, they can't magically create a new one. Um, so I'm just curious about the scope. I know that we talk about grants and stuff and I'm curious are we scratching it? Are we do we have, you know, the wherewithal to understand how much the need is and then how much are we providing? I know not this program, but um I mean all the awareness in the world is great, but if you walk down there and there's just one trash can. Um, my father-in-law's thing is just one dump, one can. It just goes down the same chute. And somebody supposedly sorts it out at the end, but my impression always is you're assume somebody does that. So, I don't know if that makes sense cuz in District 1 most of our apartments are older, they're smaller. They don't have all the services that we're going to start to offer and require. Chair Anderson, Commissioner Landy, I think one of the benefits of the services that asset will provide to us is that they can go to your multi-family building. They can look at your setup. They can really give that hands-on technical assistance. They can see what works, what doesn't. And the challenges are real, but they can help address those and if they need to connect back to the county to build an enclosure. Because yes, some city zoning around enclosures is pretty restrictive, but this brings resources to them to address a lot of those challenges. Yeah. No, I I appreciate that. I'm just wondering about the the big picture. We're going to how many units and we can see we might fix a couple, but not knowing that we have thousands of you know, and I'm making up numbers cuz I just don't know that part and then most city changes often will provide grandfather clauses and stuff. So, anything legacy is often it and it's also very, you know, if older apartments tend to offer more reasonable rents. If we start adding stuff, it tends to get reflected in the rent. Anyway, I'm just curious about the the the whole system knowing like if we're doing 100 or 150, I think you said. I can't remember the number. And yet we have thousands. Might take us 10 years to even get to the fact that we get to all of them one time. And so that's where I was kind of going, just understanding the the the need in front of us. So, thank you. Thank you. I don't know if there was a a response looking for that. No, okay. Um, I I appreciate this. Uh you know, yesterday I had the opportunity to visit a municipal solid waste uh landfill. Um, and see firsthand really the amount of garbage that is brought into uh landfills and how much of that is potential recyclable or organic material. Um, and knowing that's a lot of that is connected to multi-family um you know, multi-family units um is really sobering and it's not only that, we also have uh needs in packaging and you know, uh and the materials that we are getting in our waste stream that cannot be recycled in their like in the form that we get them, right? Like I think there's a bill for producer responsibility to make sure that there is uh recycle like the materials are recyclable, um are reusable. I think all of these things are are great additions and I think as we are approaching this new future of reduced uh waste in our waste stream that we really think about how what the full scope of that need is because Commissioner Landy's right like the um if a building doesn't have the infrastructure to handle a changed way of doing it, then something further down the the stream needs to be able to accommodate that. Um, so if a building doesn't have the means to sort out trash, then somewhere down the line trash needs to be sorted and I think that's, you know, a step that we've been going down with a proposed pre-sort facility. Um, I know that that's probably something that we're going to have to really evaluate more and more as we um as we're evaluating our zero waste future. Uh I'm appreciative of this. I I hope that we can continue on with our our work of making sure that every resident in Hennepin County has the opportunity to responsibly dispose of the materials that they are that they buy in order to live in Hennepin County. Um, and I hope that in the future we're at a place where those materials can be responsibly disposed of without adding into landfills or without incineration. I think that's the a dream that we would have and hopefully we can get there and this is part of that work. So, I appreciate it. Commissioner Green. Um, thank you, Mr. Chair for allowing me to slip in. So, as I was listening to you and and Commissioner Landy as well, I was struck that um this work really feels like it reflects a balance um um and the it's a balance of like how how aggressive can we be towards shifting people to to recycling and that's sort of what I would call classic recycling and also composting. Um, and I guess I wanted to just say into the microphone, I like the balance that we're striking. Um, I'm really I'm excited about this work. I realize that um the dangers of being a focus group of one, but I'm struck recently I moved from a single-family home to a multi-unit building how not only is composting so much harder for me in this multi-unit building, but then as a result [clears throat] I'm using way more plastic in my trash because my trash is wet. Um, and I have more trash, of course. And so I just think of that across, you know, the many, many people who are living in multi-unit buildings and I appreciate what um Commissioner Landy has said about sort of older infrastructure, how do we work with that? Um, but I I I'm supportive of the balance and really appreciative of this work. So, thank you. Thank you. Any other comments? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? That item is approved. Um, item 2K is a resolution of support for Metro Transit's recommendation to advance the Metro J Line and Metro K Line and adopt both lines into the Metropolitan Council's 2050 Transportation Policy Plan. >> Move approval. Second. We have a motion and a second. Uh Ms. Windham. Chair Anderson, Commissioners, Dan Soller's here and can provide background information. Mr. Soller, welcome. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members. Dan Soller, director of transit and mobility for Hennepin County. So, today's action is um to provide resolutions of support for Metro Transit's next two recommended arterial BRT lines within um within their system. So, last year um Metro Transit narrowed down a list of various corridors to 10 corridors that they look to advance and make a recommendation out of for the next three J, K, and L um as the next three arterial BRT lines. And so Hennepin County and our staff did work with Metro Transit to provide feedback and background on helping them to get to that level and they have now reached a recommendation for J and a recommendation for K with a recommendation for the third line L to still come maybe later this year as they evaluate a few. So, a little bit of the background then, they are recommending the J Line be the West 7th Street corridor, which essentially essentially is a replacement for the former Riverview project, which was the streetcar project from downtown St. Paul um to the airport along primarily West 7th. I know Commissioner Cantell sat on that uh project advisory committee and so the with that project not advancing through Ramsey and Ramsey County and Metro Transit, it is now their recommendation for the J Line and it doesn't affect directly affect Hennepin County infrastructure, but of course it serves Hennepin County through around the Fortune 500 area around the airport and around the Mall of America to to that piece. The second line they're recommending it for the K line is Nicollet Avenue essentially from downtown through and through Richfield in that area and so that is in Hennepin County infrastructure on our segment of Nicollet Avenue in Richfield. Our team in transportation project delivery has been working on the knowledge that this would be the next line and so we've incorporated measures into that plan to be able to be ready and to accommodate that and so Nicollet then becomes that recommended piece. I also want to note that while these are Met Council's recommendations, we continue to work with them on furthering Hennepin County's recommendations primarily Lowry as a route, also Lyndale, also a piece of 85th up in Brooklyn Park that could serve the Blue Line extension. So we continue to help inform where we think good arterial BRT lines will be and what the next priorities will be. But for your action today because Met Council now needs to move these two projects, the J and K line, into the transportation policy plan, they are looking for resolutions of support and so that's what's in front of you today. Thank you so much. Colleagues, yes, Commissioner Green. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I had a question and a couple comments. I wanted to ask excuse me, [clears throat] if this is the usual way that the transportation policy plan gets updated. The what prompts me to ask is that as you've alluded to, there is sort of a a pipeline of of lines coming towards uh let's say elevation to the project to the policy plan and I just I'm interested in how frequently that plan is updated and if this is not usual. Mr. Chair, Commissioner Green. So the transportation policy plan as I understand it is updated on its own on a regular basis where the entire plan is updated based on feedback that comes through and every once in a while specific projects are added to it. If you remember not long ago we took an action here at the County Board you did to amend to bring in the new route for the Blue Line extension and to add the Gold Line extension from downtown St. Paul into Minneapolis. So as projects advance and are ready to come in, especially if they are seeking various levels of funding including federal funds, they must be amended into the TPP. Thank you for that. Appreciate that. And um I wanted to thank you for your great work interfacing with the Met Council and I want to thank them for the research I know went that went into this and went into the other lines that we'll be seeing teeing themselves up. I'm absolutely of course in support of this like you know, 110%. I do want to acknowledge a little bit of personal grief. One of them is of just around Lyndale. I'm so enthusiastic for Lyndale to get this treatment and thank you for naming it as sort of you know something that feels like it might be next and I know that the the data is emerging. And then the other piece that's a little bit more of a regional conversation is just you know, the original vision or you know, at least the vision that was in place for a long time was that West 7th would be some kind of uh something not a bus, I'll say. And as I thought about it when I sort of think about the shape of the region, I thought about it as a triangle. We've got Minneapolis, St. Paul and the airport and let's say light rail or streetcar connecting the three sides of that triangle. And there's just nothing like hardwired transit to spark development and investment and give people users confidence as they make choices around housing. And so I'm sorry that it's shifted to bus rapid transit, but I will also take what I can get and officially transferring and converting to an enthusiastic booster of of what's to come here. So thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Conley. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am bus rapid transit's biggest fan. I would love to see more expansion out into the west and wanted to just I know that the bus rapid transit lines are alphabetical, but it I can't help but to call the K line the Kmart line given that it's going down Nicollet. Thank you for the laugh. Uh I wonder if that's a coincidence. I will say Come on. Mr. Chair, Commissioner Conley, I've heard that a few times so it could be more than a coincidence, but it wasn't my dream to come up with that so I can't take credit for it, but it is Looking forward to that Kmart line. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I do want to acknowledge, thank you, Commissioner Conley for highlighting the expansion of transit into the west and I know that there's been a lot of effort over the last few years of exploring and evaluating BRT on Highway 55. And while the result of that ended up not being a recommendation for BRT, there is a recommendation for regular service going out Highway 55. So we are eternally hopeful for showing the the value of having transit available to to residents along 55 through communities into Plymouth and Golden Valley and Minneapolis. So I know that we are always going to be looking for ways of responsibly expanding reliable transit transit options to all residents. So thank you. Yes, Commissioner Landy. Um Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll blame you for triggering it so I'll go ahead and ask. Just to park a future conversation if it comes to fruition, I'd be interested to see the effects on folding the independent lines. I don't think that's the not the right word, but Metro Maple Grove, Plymouth, Minnesota Valley and I think Southwest. Southwest. Yeah. If if that would pass by partisanly out of the committee in the in the house, if those changes go through about how that affects what Metro Transit's plans are for those because you know, as a neighbor to Maple Grove that line does not come to Brooklyn Park. And so I'm curious about if those opportunities might change going forward in those things. So um curious if it does pass. Thank you. Thank you. Any response to that immediately or is that a future conversation? All right, thank you. I will say like just from you know, the communities that I represent, that proposal is problematic for a a number of reasons not least of which is um part of it talks about reduction in service to save money and I think as you're looking at evaluating transit options reliability of service is essential and if we start cutting access to it, then people will stop using it. It's just how it's going to work. So I know Maple Grove and Plymouth have been very diligent about trying to make sure that they are providing the access and reliability of of lines you know, express routes downtown and I think that they would be you know, as evidenced by the the partnership with Plymouth and the Met Council to explore the Highway 55 they're not opposed to working with Met Council to meet transit needs, but the Met Council needs to be a a partner in making sure that that those transit needs are being fully met. So and that's that's all I'll say about that. So thank you. I'm seeing no other comments, I would proceed to the vote. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? That item is approved. Thank you, Mr. Solar. And I will declare adjourned. Good afternoon. I'll call to order the Health Committee for this Tuesday, March 24th. The first item of business for us today is to approve the minutes from the meeting held March 10th. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Minutes have been moved and seconded. Any comments or corrections on the minutes? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? The minutes have passed. I would take a motion to move items 2A and 2B together. So moved. Second. Items have been moved and seconded. Item 2A is to amend an agreement with Avail- Availity LLC to provide electronic data interchange transaction services. The dates on this are August 1st of 2017 through July 31st of 2029 increasing the NTE by 126,000 for a new NTE of 258,000. And 2B is an agreement through HRSA for the Ryan White HIV AIDS Program Part A Emergency Relief Project Grant. The dates on this are March 1st, 2026 through February 28th of 2027. We are receiving a little under 1.7 million. Those items have been moved and seconded. Would anyone like any comments summaries of those? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Those two items passed and I will declare us adjourned. I will call to order the Human Services Committee. It's Tuesday, March 24th. It is 3:38 p.m. and I'm Chair Heather Edelson. And our first order of business is to approve the minutes from March 10th. If I can have a motion. So moved. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say I. I. Opposed? All right, the motion the motion carries. We have four routine items before actually Yes, one, two, three, yes, four. Uh one's been removed for I'm No, I'll get to that. So we have four routine items uh of business before us today. If I could have a motion to move 2A through 2D before us and I will read them into the record. So Second. All right, they've been moved and seconded. Item 2A is a Human Services and Public Health Resolution including contracts and an amendments to contracts with providers for more information as contained in Board Report 2604. Item 2B is a Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Minneapolis to accept a subgrant of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development ESG funding for emergency shelter and essential services from January 1 of 2026 to April 30th of 2027 in the receivable amount of 100,000. Item 2C is a Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Minneapolis to accept a subgrant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for ESG grants for rapid rehousing services from persons experiencing homelessness from October 1st, 2025 through September 30th, 2027 in the receivable amount of 294,373. Item 2D is a Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Minneapolis accepting a subgrant of 150,000 from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development ESG funding and a local match receivable amount of 150,000 from the City of Minneapolis General Funds for combination total receivable amount of 300,000 from January 1 of 2026 through April 30th, 2027. Um Mr. Hewitt is here if anybody has any questions on these. Looks like we're good to go. Those are all positives. It's nice to be receiving. Um with that we'll uh we have a motion. It's moved It's It's before us. So all those in favor, please say I. I. Opposed? And the motion carries. And then with that we have item 2E. It is under routine business and has been requested be returned to staff. Um item 2E uh with that if there's any questions, otherwise we'll just go ahead and I'll I don't know if we have to make a Do we motion it? I'll move to return to staff, Madam Chair. >> Thank you and I'll second it then. All those in favor, please say I. I. Okay, it has been returned to staff. Um that concludes this Human Services Committee. Thank you. I'd call today's uh Law Safety and Justice Committee meeting to order. We have just a couple items. Uh first up is minutes from March 10th. If I get a motion and a second. So moved. We have a motion and a second. Any changes, corrections, additions? Seeing none, all those in favor, say I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. We have just one item in new business. If I get a motion and a second, I'll read it. Okay. We have a motion and a second for 2A which is a 2026-2028 Corrections Advisory Board appointments pursuant to Minnesota Statute 401.08. Does anybody Anybody need any background? Okay. Seeing none, all those in favor, say I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. And with that the Law Safety and Justice Committee is agenda is complete. Good job now. I think I'll say good job.