Staff recommends City Council hold a public hearing and approve the Fiscal Year 2021 budget amendments.

The FY21 budget amendments can generally be classified into 4 categories:
a. Projects budgeted in a prior year that were not bid during that year. Staff is requesting that budget authority be re-established to bid or complete these projects in FY21 - $10,994,500
b. Additional budget authority requested from prior budget savings. These requests result from projects that came in under budget in prior years. That budgetary savings is being requested to be re-authorized in FY21 - $3,342,100
c. Projects reimbursed by grants or assessments. These expenses were not anticipated during the development of the FY21 budget, but new revenue (grants and property assessments) has become available during the year. Additional budget authority is being requested in FY21 for these expenses - $1,776,100
d. Additional FY21 budget authority. These are necessary expenses that were inadvertently excluded from the original FY21 budget adopted by City Council. Staff is requesting that budget authority be established for these FY21 expenditures - $31,200

FY21 Budget Amendment Detail:

1. Park District 1 Fund - Rose Park Playground Equipment $275,000 - On September 14, 2020 the City Council approved a contract for the purchase of playground equipment at Rose Park in the amount of $274,793. As indicated in the staff memo approving that project, a budget amendment would be needed for this project, as it had been approved in a prior year and the City was awaiting grant funding. Since the grant funding has now been received, the Parks Department is requesting budget authority be reestablished from Park District 1 reserves set aside for this project. 
2. Multiple Funds - CARES Act $978,100 - The City is requesting budget authority for additional costs incurred related to COVID-19. The State of Montana has reimbursed the City for all costs associated with our response to COVID. The total budget amendment requested is $313,900 spread across multiple funds identified in Exhibit A to the resolution. The budget amendments being requested are for items such as Zoom licenses for remote meetings, software for electronic signatures, mobile computers and equipment, additional cleaning services, masks and personal protective equipment, and overtime related to COVID.
3. Copier Fund $31,200 - The Finance Department is requesting budget authority be established for the copier fund. The City owns and maintains 13 large copiers used by multiple departments. Each department pays into a fund based upon their usage. The funds collected from each department are used to pay for paper, repairs and maintenance, and replace copiers when needed. During a review of the budget, after it was adopted by City Council, it was noticed that the budget authority was not requested for the supplies and maintenance expense for FY21. The Finance Department is requesting that budget be established to purchase paper and pay for copier maintenance. Established departmental copier charges will be used to pay for maintenance and supplies. 
4. Public Safety Fund - Police Department $1,142,100 - At the City Council work session on 12/7/2020, the City Council directed staff to prepare a budget amendment for additional equipment, training, and overtime for the Police Department. A detailed list of expenses was provided to City Council at that work session. Fund balance in the Public Safety fund will be used for the additional budgeted expenses.
5. Gas Tax $1,338,000 - Public Works is requesting budget authority be increased in the FY 2021 budget for two construction projects, WO 20-02 missing sidewalk annual program and Songbird Drive from Midland to Elysian. The missing sidewalk project is intended to concentrate on installing sidewalk in areas that are missing pedestrian facilities.  As a priority, City staff identified areas that are along arterial streets, collector streets, school routes, or in high pedestrian areas for inclusion in this program.  The streets identified as needing sidewalk are Aronson Avenue from Governors Boulevard to Nutter Boulevard; 11th Avenue North from North 22nd Street to North 27th Street, and ADA improvements to the sidewalk on the west side of 24th Street West between Lewis Avenue and Broadwater Avenue.  Along with the missing sidewalk, there is miscellaneous concrete work to address problems throughout the city, including ADA improvements, that are too large for the sidewalk tripper repair or replacement projects. The FY 20 missing sidewalk resolution approval was delayed by Council in March 2020 to obtain further clarification on the projects and was approved by Council at the May 26, 2020 business meeting.  The project was subsequently bid, but due to bidding the project in the busy summer environment, the bids came in high.  Public Works will rebid the project in the spring of 2021 and a budget amendment is needed to reestablish the budget authority in the FY 2021 budget.  The Songbird Drive project will create a secondary route to Midland Road and was also previously budgeted in the FY 2020 budget.  The projects will be funded through reserves in the Gas Tax Fund, which were accumulated in FY20 for these projects. 
6. Sidewalk Construction Fund $1,571,000 - Public Works is requesting budget authority be increased in the FY 2021 budget for three construction projects, WO 20-02 missing sidewalk annual project, construction of 32nd Street West, and Wicks Lane.  A budget amendment is needed to reestablish the budget authority for WO20-02 in the Sidewalk Construction Fund for the same explanation provided above under the Gas Tax Fund.  The Gas Tax fund pays for the City share of the program and the Sidewalk Construction fund pays for the portion that is funded by property owners through the payment of sidewalk bond assessments.  The 32nd Street West project will reconstruct South 32nd Street West between King Avenue West and Gabel and provide a trail connection to Transtech Way. The improvements will include sidewalks, trail, two travel lanes, two way left turn lane, and street lights. The project is also planned to make signal improvements at the King Ave West and the South 32nd St West intersection and provide striping changes north of the intersection to improve capacity, safety, and efficiency. This project was budgeted in the FY 2021 budget; however, a portion of the project will be funded by assessing property owners for adjacent infrastructure that they benefit from and this sidewalk portion was not included in the FY 2021 budget.  The Wicks Lane project will improve Wicks Lane from Bench Boulevard to Hawthorne Lane and will include the installation of sidewalks and improvements to the road surface.   This project was unable to be bid in FY 2020 and the budget authority needs to be reestablished in the FY 2021 budget.  These projects will be funded through the sale of bonds and assessed back to property owners benefiting from the improvements.
7. Wastewater Fund $6,527,500 - Public Works is requesting budget authority be increased in the FY 2021 budget for the replacement of wastewater interceptors, construction of an influent lift station, and the reconstruction of the Lloyd Mangrum and Lake Hills Lift Stations.  The interceptor replacement project will line the interior of the 60-inch sanitary sewer interceptor that conveys wastewater flows into the Water Reclamation Facility with a trenchless cured in place liner. The current 60-inch interceptor is made from reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) and has concrete spalling on the inside of the pipe that has exposed the rebar in some locations. This has adversely affected the structural integrity of the pipe.  The replacement of the interceptors began in FY 2020 and came in $2.2 million under budget.  A budget amendment is requested to reestablish this budget authority in the FY 2021 budget for additional replacement of the interceptors.  The influent lift station and Lloyd Mangrum and Lake Hills lift station projects were included in the FY 2020 budget but were not able to be awarded in FY 2020 due to timing of projects and the construction environment.   Budget authority needs to be reestablished in the FY 2021 budget in order to complete these projects.  The influent lift station project will construct a lift station upstream of the Water Reclamation Facility to increase the velocity in the large diameter sewer pipes.  Not installing a lift station will result in continued solids buildup causing the sewer system to overflow or the failure of the large diameter pipes from corrosion. A failure of these pipes would cause the City of Billings to violate the Montana Pollution Discharge Elimination Permit (MPDES) and the Federal Clean Water Act.  The rehabilitation of the Lloyd Mangrum and Lake Hills lift stations will upgrade the existing 35 year old lift stations to address the various shortcomings found in the 2008 EP audit of the sanitary sewer collection system.  The projects will be funded from reserves in the Wastewater Fund created from FY20 budgetary savings.
8. Solid Waste Fund $2,695,000 - Public Works is requesting budget authority be increased in the FY 2021 budget for the construction of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling facility, remaining construction costs for the landfill drop off facility, two front load trucks, and equipment for the landfill drop off facility.  These items were all in the FY 2020 budget but were not able to be awarded in FY 2020, requiring the budget authority be reestablished in the FY 2021 budget.  The CNG fueling facility will double Public Works current CNG capabilities and add a fast-fill port to enable the conversion of additional collection trucks to CNG.  The amount needed for the landfill drop off facility is to fund the remaining change orders for the project.  There was a $1 million contingency change order budget established for the project to fund items that could not be anticipated during the bid process.  It is expected that only about 1/3 of the contingency budget will be utilized.  The primary change order is to account for a change in pier lengths for the new facility.  The front load trucks are used for commercial solid waste collation and are replacing two units and were in the FY 2020 Equipment Replacement Program.  Equipment needed for the landfill includes a loader and walking floor trailers.  These pieces of equipment will be necessary when the transfer center is fully functional. Solid Waste Fund Reserves for these projects established in FY20 will be used to cover the additional expenses.
9. Arterial Construction Fund $1,577,000 - Public Works is requesting budget authority be increased for three construction projects street signal improvements, 32nd Street West from King to Gabel, and the construction of Wicks Lane.  The signal improvement projects were in the FY 2020 budget, but were unable to be bid in FY 2020 due to delays caused by MDT review and property acquisition and the budget authority needs to be reestablished in the FY 2021 budget.  Public Works is currently under design for the 32nd Street West project from King to Gabel; however, the first phase was only to construct the portion from King to the canal.  Recent conversations with adjacent property owners indicate that the entire section should be constructed at the same time to accommodate changes that will be caused by development and estimates indicate that the second phase from the canal to Gabel can be added now for only an additional $200,000.  As discussed under the Sidewalk Fund above, the Wicks Lane project will improve Wicks Lane from Bench Boulevard to Hawthorne Lane.  The budget amendment needed in the Arterial Fund will fund the portion of the project not funded by adjacent property owners.  Reserves accumulated in the Arterial Construction Fund will be used to cover the additional expenses. 

City Council may:

• Approve, or;
• Disapprove

The sum of all budget amendments, identified in Exhibit A, will increase the FY2021 City Budget $16,134,900 in the following funds:

Fund Name	Amount
Arterial Construction	$ 1,577,000
Building Fund	171,600
Central Services Fund	31,200
City County Planning Fund	59,000
Community Development Fund	2,500
Facilities	67,300
Fleet Services	18,100
Gas Tax Fund	1,338,000
General Fund	184,900
Information Resources	75,100
Library	166,100
Park District 1	279,300
Parking	1,500
Public Safety	1,341,700
Public Works Admin	4,300
Public Works Engineering	600
Sidewalk Construction	1,571,000
Solid Waste	2,696,400
Street and Traffic	10,400
Telephone	1,100
Wastewater	6,534,400
Water	3,400
Total	$ 16,134,900