|
Item 3.
|
| City Council Work Session | |
| Date: | 06/20/2022 |
| Title: | Discussion to Levy and Allocate 2 mills for Mental Health and Substance Abuse |
| Presented by: | Chris Kukulski, City Administrator |
| Department: | Finance |
| Presentation: | Yes |
| Legal Review | No |
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends City Council first determine whether they want to levy up to two mills to address substance abuse and mental health impacts on public safety in the FY23 budget. If Council does want to provide funding, to what extent? Finally, select a path forward to determine how best to invest these dollars (~$800,000).
BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)
The proposed FY2023 budget contains budget authority for $800,000 to be used by the City to be allocated towards the impacts of mental health, substance abuse and homelessness on crime. This program is proposed to be funded by a combination of 2 property tax mills, which were part of the 2021 Public Safety Mill Levy and the anticipated Marijuana Excise Tax revenue, for a total of $800,000 in FY23. No specific use of the funds were identified when the budget went to print in late April and therefore has not been allocated to a specific purpose within the proposed budget.
Two areas of investment that have been presented to the city include rolling out a Crisis Response Unit (CRU) in a partnership between the City and Rimrock Foundation and the Continuum of Care has requested funding for a low barrier shelter. The SAC proposal to launch the CRU in partnership with city fire and police, is ready to launch if the city includes $200,000 in the 2023 adopted budget. If the CRU is included in the budget, SAC may be able to order the vehicle prior to their June 30, 2022 grant deadline (with resources paid through a grant they received) and the city can apply for a State grant to fund one of the two EMTs (emergency medical technician) for the first two years of the program. The CRU is a best practice recognized nationally, it is referenced in recommendation 21 in the fire department's CPSM report, was observed by our Fire Dept. in both Spokane and Missoula and is being supported by the State to more efficiently respond to a growing number of public safety calls for service.
If City Council agrees to provide funding authority within the FY23 budget, and levies the mills appropriate to provide that funding, staff is proposing the Council select one of the following paths forward to best determine any expenditures that were not specifically identified in the adopted budget, to make a selection of how to most efficiently use any remaining funds.
City RFP Process
The City Council could use the normal RFP process to select an eligible program for this funding. Once funds are allocated within the budget, City staff will prepare an RFP to solicit proposals that can be considered. An RFP committee made up of City staff and/or City Council will review proposals and provide a recommendation to City Council. City Council will approve or deny the proposal(s).
City Council RFP
Once funds are allocated within the budget, City staff can prepare an RFP and bring it back to Council for approval. Once Council approves an RFP the staff can solicit proposals. All proposals received would be brought back to City Council for consideration. City Council would, at a public meeting, select the proposal that they would like to proceed with.
City Council direct staff to proceed with a program
City Council has heard from two organizations seeking funds to proceed with programs to address mental health, substance abuse and homelessness within our community. Both Substance Abuse Connect (SAC) and Continuum of Care (CoC) have proposed programs to City Council which may be considered for funding. City Council may select from these programs and authorize City staff to proceed with developing an MOU and provide funding to the organization.
The SAC proposal to launch a Crisis Response Unit (CRU) in partnership with city fire and police is ready to launch if the city includes $200,000 in the 2023 adopted budget. If the CRU is included in the budget, SAC may be able to order a vehicle prior to their June 30, 2022 deadline (with resources paid through a grant they received) and the city can apply for a State grant to fund one of the two EMTs (emergency medical technician) for the first two years of the program. The CRU is a best practice recognized nationally and is being supported by the State to more efficiently respond to a growing number of public safety calls for service.
Two areas of investment that have been presented to the city include rolling out a Crisis Response Unit (CRU) in a partnership between the City and Rimrock Foundation and the Continuum of Care has requested funding for a low barrier shelter. The SAC proposal to launch the CRU in partnership with city fire and police, is ready to launch if the city includes $200,000 in the 2023 adopted budget. If the CRU is included in the budget, SAC may be able to order the vehicle prior to their June 30, 2022 grant deadline (with resources paid through a grant they received) and the city can apply for a State grant to fund one of the two EMTs (emergency medical technician) for the first two years of the program. The CRU is a best practice recognized nationally, it is referenced in recommendation 21 in the fire department's CPSM report, was observed by our Fire Dept. in both Spokane and Missoula and is being supported by the State to more efficiently respond to a growing number of public safety calls for service.
If City Council agrees to provide funding authority within the FY23 budget, and levies the mills appropriate to provide that funding, staff is proposing the Council select one of the following paths forward to best determine any expenditures that were not specifically identified in the adopted budget, to make a selection of how to most efficiently use any remaining funds.
City RFP Process
The City Council could use the normal RFP process to select an eligible program for this funding. Once funds are allocated within the budget, City staff will prepare an RFP to solicit proposals that can be considered. An RFP committee made up of City staff and/or City Council will review proposals and provide a recommendation to City Council. City Council will approve or deny the proposal(s).
City Council RFP
Once funds are allocated within the budget, City staff can prepare an RFP and bring it back to Council for approval. Once Council approves an RFP the staff can solicit proposals. All proposals received would be brought back to City Council for consideration. City Council would, at a public meeting, select the proposal that they would like to proceed with.
City Council direct staff to proceed with a program
City Council has heard from two organizations seeking funds to proceed with programs to address mental health, substance abuse and homelessness within our community. Both Substance Abuse Connect (SAC) and Continuum of Care (CoC) have proposed programs to City Council which may be considered for funding. City Council may select from these programs and authorize City staff to proceed with developing an MOU and provide funding to the organization.
The SAC proposal to launch a Crisis Response Unit (CRU) in partnership with city fire and police is ready to launch if the city includes $200,000 in the 2023 adopted budget. If the CRU is included in the budget, SAC may be able to order a vehicle prior to their June 30, 2022 deadline (with resources paid through a grant they received) and the city can apply for a State grant to fund one of the two EMTs (emergency medical technician) for the first two years of the program. The CRU is a best practice recognized nationally and is being supported by the State to more efficiently respond to a growing number of public safety calls for service.
ALTERNATIVES
Alternative paths forward for selecting a specific use of the funds allocated for mental health and substance abuse are provided within the Background section of the memo. If Council wants to provide funding for mental health and substance abuse, staff recommends that Council select one of the options above. If Council does not want to provide funding for mental health and substance abuse, staff requests that Council make that clear, so the budget can be changed to reflect that.
FISCAL EFFECTS
The proposed FY2023 budget contains budget authority for $800,000 to be used by the City to be allocated towards the impacts of mental health and substance abuse on crime. This is proposed to be funded by 2 mills which were part of the 2021 Public Safety Mill Levy and combined with anticipated Marijuana Excise Tax revenue for a total of $800,000 in FY23. City Council may amend the proposed budget to include funding for mental health and homelessness by any amount, though current funding available in FY23 is estimated to be $800,000.
If the Council supports launching the Crisis Response Units asap, the proposed budget should be amended to reallocate $200,000 for salaries, equipment, and data analysis costs for this specific program, leaving $600,000 to be determined through one of the processes identified above.
If the Council supports launching the Crisis Response Units asap, the proposed budget should be amended to reallocate $200,000 for salaries, equipment, and data analysis costs for this specific program, leaving $600,000 to be determined through one of the processes identified above.