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OKAY, GREAT MORNING, WELCOME BACK, CONTROLLER.UH, WE WILL NOW LAUNCH INTO THE FY 2025 PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE OFFICE OF CITY CONTROLLER.
UH, BEFORE I GET STARTED, JUST TO COME BACK TO THE, THE QUESTION ABOUT TAX RATE AND SORT OF WHERE THE 52 CENTS GOES.
IT'S A 75 25 SPLIT, SO 13 CENTS OUTTA THAT 52 GOES TO DEBT SERVICE, AND THEN 39, UH, GOES TO OTHER SERVICES.
GOOD MORNING AGAIN, EVERYBODY.
UH, MADAM CHAIR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL AND STAFF.
I'M PLEASED TO PRESENT THE DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CONTROLLER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025.
UH, BEFORE I BEGIN, I'D LIKE TO QUICKLY REP, UH, RECOGNIZE MEMBERS OF MY STAFF AND TEAM WHO ARE PRESENT THIS MORNING.
CAN YOU ALL STAND AND BE RECOGNIZED? THESE FOLKS DO INCREDIBLE WORK.
UH, YOU ALL WERE VERY COMPLIMENTARY OF THE, THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION.
OUR, OUR FINANCIAL REPORTING TEAM, UH, DID A LOT TO MAKE THAT AS FANTASTIC AS IT WAS, AND WE'RE GRATEFUL, UH, FOR THEM.
THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CONTROLLER HAS A SIGNIFICANT RESPONSIBILITY IN PROVIDING OVERSIGHT OF OUR BUDGET THAT IS NOW SURPASSED $6 BILLION MADE POSSIBLE BY MORE THAN 50 DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS, UH, WHO ARE WORKING HARD TO PROTECT HOUSTONIANS HARD EARNED TAX DOLLARS.
TO MEET THIS CHARGE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN HONEST DISCUSSION ABOUT THE RESOURCES THAT THE STAFF OF THE OFFICE OF THE CONTROLLER NEEDS, UH, WITH YOU ALL MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL, YOUR STAFF, AND THE PUBLIC.
TODAY'S THE FIRST STEP IN HAVING THAT CONVERSATION.
SO, TODAY WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE VISION FOR OUR OFFICE, OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES, AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN OF OUR TEAM.
UH, AND THEN WE'LL GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE EXPENDITURES OF OUR OFFICE, AS WELL AS OUR OFFICE'S, ADDITIONAL BUDGET REQUESTS.
AS I PLEDGE FROM DAY ONE, MY TEAM AND I ARE WORKING TO INCREASE THE STANDARDS OF ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND INNOVATION IN CITY GOVERNMENT.
BY INCREASING THE STANDARD OF ACCOUNTABILITY, WE CAN HOLD OUR CITY GOVERNMENT TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF INTEGRITY AND EFFICIENCY, ELIMINATING THE POTENTIAL FOR WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE.
BY INCREASING THE STANDARD OF TRANSPARENCY, WE CAN PUT IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY'S FINANCES, OPERATIONS, AND SERVICES AT THE FINGERTIPS OF EVERY HOUSTONIAN IN A LANGUAGE AND A FORMAT THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND.
AND BY EXPANDING INNOVATION, WE CAN BRING NEW IDEAS AND BEST PRACTICES TO EVERY CITY DEPARTMENT SO THAT WE CAN INVEST MORE IN AND PROVIDE BETTER SERVICES TO HOUSTON FAMILIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS.
IN SUMMARY, THESE GUIDING PRINCIPLES REPRESENT A ROADMAP THAT MY OFFICE IS USING TO FIND IDEAS THAT WILL ENHANCE CITY SERVICE DELIVERY, INCREASE HOUSTON'S QUALITY OF LIFE, AND PUSH FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY FOR OUR CITY FOR YEARS TO COME.
HERE WE HAVE THE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR THE OFFICES OF THE CITY CONTROLLER.
AS MANY MIGHT IMAGINE BOLSTERING AUDIT OPERATIONS REMAINS A KEY PRIORITY, AS MY TEAM WORKS TO PROTECT HOUSTONIANS TAX DOLLARS WITH AGGRESSIVE FINANCIAL AUDITS, AND AS WE WORK TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL OUTCOMES WITH PERFORMANCE AUDITS TO HELP PUT THE CITY ON A PATH TO FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY.
THE OFFICE'S FINANCIAL REPORTING FUNCTION PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN OUR SHARED MISSION TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE REVENUES, DECREASE COST, OR SOME COMBINATION OF BOTH.
WE KNOW THAT MOST DON'T THINK OF GOVERNMENT AS EFFICIENT, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE DETERMINED TO CHANGE THROUGH PRIORITIZING OUR EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CITY OPERATIONS.
AND LASTLY, OUR TREASURY FUNCTION IS TASKED WITH THE IMPORTANT CHARGE OF MAXIMIZING THE INVESTMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS THROUGH AN AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO REFINANCING THE CITY'S EXISTING DEBT AND THROUGH RESPONSIBLE FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP.
WE TALKED BRIEFLY ABOUT THESE DIVISIONS IN THE LAST SLIDE, AND I'LL GO INTO MORE DETAIL AS THE PRESENTATION CONTINUES.
UH, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE OUR AUDIT DIVISION, OUR EXECUTIVE DIVISION, FINANCIAL REPORTING OPERATIONS, AND TREASURY.
AND OF COURSE, WE ALL REPORT TO THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UH, BASED ON, UH, THE MAYOR'S, UH, NEW SET OF PRIORITIES, UH, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR OFFICES PROGRAMS FLOW UP TO THE GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS PRIORITY.
MY OFFICE IS COMMITTED TO THE OUTCOME BASED BUDGETING PROCESS, AND WE'LL CONTINUE, UH, TO DO THE WORK THAT WILL LEAD US TO BE A MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE CITY GOVERNMENT.
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NEXT SLIDE.WE WILL GO INTO EACH ONE OF THESE IN MORE DEPTH.
UH, BUT HERE YOU CAN SEE EXPENDITURES BY PROGRAM OF THE LARGER VARIANCES.
UH, YOU'LL SEE AN INCREASE IN THE AUDIT DIVISION, WHICH WE SPOKE ABOUT A MOMENT AGO, COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ, REFLECTING SIX PERFORMANCE AUDIT, UH, POSITIONS THAT WERE ADDED, UH, IN FISCAL YEAR 2024 THAT ARE NOW FLOWING IN TO THIS NEW, UH, FISCAL YEAR.
SIMILARLY, EXECUTIVE OVERSIGHT SAW AN INCREASE OF ONE POSITION, UH, REFLECTING A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POSITION.
UH, BEFORE FISCAL YEAR 2024, THERE WAS NO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FUNCTION WHATSOEVER IN THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE.
IN THE AUDIT DIVISION, THE FISCAL YEAR 2025, FTE COUNT TOTALS 16.1, UH, ROUGHLY SIX FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS HIGHER THAN FISCAL YEAR 2024.
THE $2.9 MILLION THAT YOU SEE HERE INCLUDES FUNDING TO SUPPORT AN INCREASE OF PERFORMANCE AUDIT FUNCTIONS, AS WELL AS INCREASED FUNDING FOR BOTH HEALTH BENEFITS AND PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS THAT ARE STANDARD ACROSS CITY GOVERNMENT.
FOR EXECUTIVE OVERSIGHT, THE $1.2 MILLION IN FUNDING WILL SUPPORT THE OFFICE'S EXPANDED ENGAGEMENT EFFORT AS WE WORK TO INFORM ALL HOUSTONIANS ABOUT BOTH THE IMPLICATIONS OF INACTION IN ADDRESSING OUR FINANCIAL CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS TO OUR CHALLENGES.
EXECUTIVE OVERSIGHT HAS A CRITICAL ROLE IN OUR LARGER MISSION TO REACH HOUSTONIANS WHERE THEY ARE IN THE FINANCIAL REPORTING DIVISION.
THE $1.7 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025 WILL GO TOWARD OUR OFFICE'S EFFORTS TO DEVELOP AND PUBLISH THE ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT, AS WELL AS THE TRENDS REPORT THAT WE DELIVERED EARLIER THIS MORNING.
IN ADDITION, FINANCIAL REPORTING, UH, IS CRITICAL IN PROVIDING OUR MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORTS, UH, AND IN DOING MORE TO BREAK DOWN THE CITY'S FINANCES INTO LANGUAGES, LANGUAGE THAT HOUSTONIANS, UH, AND POLICY MAKERS CAN UNDERSTAND.
THIS IS THE WORKHORSE OF OUR OFFICE.
OPERATIONS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT CITY VENDORS AND EMPLOYEES GET PAID AND THAT THEY GET PAID ON TIME AMONG MANY OTHER FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS RECONCILIATION AND PROVIDING THE OFFICE WITH HUMAN RESOURCES GUIDANCE.
AND FINALLY, OUR TREASURY DIVISION LED BY CITY TREASURER OF VERNON MIDDLETON LEWIS MANAGES THE CITY'S NEARLY $6 BILLION INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO AND OUR NEARLY $14 BILLION DEBT PORTFOLIO, UH, IN-HOUSE.
IN ADDITION, THE OFFICE WORKS TO GENERATE SAVINGS FOR HOUSTON TAX PAYERS BY ACTIVELY REFINANCING THE CITY'S EXISTING DEBT, UH, WHEN THAT IS BENEFICIAL TO THE CITY.
IN TOTAL, OUR BUDGET REFLECTS 10.5 UH, MILLION DOLLARS IN THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET, UH, WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF NEARLY $700,000 FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2024, UH, BUDGET.
AND ALL OF THIS FLOWS FROM OUR GENERAL FUND, AND A TREND THAT'S SEEN ACROSS THE CITY IS THE PROPORTION OF PERSONNEL EXPENSES TO NON-PERSONNEL EXPENSES WITHIN OUR OPERATIONAL BUDGET.
OF OUR 10 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS PROPOSED BUDGET, $9 MILLION OR ABOUT 85%, UH, IS ASSOCIATED WITH PERSONNEL.
LOOKS LIKE DISTRICT J IS JOINING.
AND OF THE REMAINING ONE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS, UH, 985,000 IS RESERVED FOR SERVICES.
AND 492,000 IS FROM, UH, RESTRICTED ACCOUNTS.
UH, THE SERVICES FUNCTION IS LARGELY, UH, TO COVER TEMP STAFF AND CONSULTING SERVICES, UH, FOR FINANCIAL REPORTING, AS WELL AS, UH, INTERNAL AUDITS.
YOU KNOW, MY OFFICE ITSELF IS AUDITED BY AN OUTSIDE FIRM, UH, AND IN SERVICES LIKE FINANCIAL ADVISORY AND, UH, THE RATINGS AGENCIES.
SO NOW WE'LL MOVE INTO, UH, ADDITIONAL BUDGET REQUESTS.
UH, I'VE TALKED FROM REALLY DAY ONE EVERY TIME I GET TO THIS PODIUM ABOUT THE NEED TO INCREASE THE AUDIT FUNCTION FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, ABOUT THAT HERE.
IN ADDITION, I'VE REACHED OUT, OR MY TEAM HAS REACHED OUT TO EACH ONE OF YOU INDIVIDUALLY TO TALK MORE ABOUT THIS AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE, UH, OFFLINE.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, UH, WE HAVE THREE ADDITIONAL BUDGET REQUESTS IN ADDITION TO WHAT'S
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IN THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET.ONE IS RELATED TO THE SALARY OF OUR CITY AUDITOR.
UH, WE LEARNED RECENTLY THAT OUR CITY AUDITOR FOR THE PAST 15 PLUS YEARS WILL BE RETIRING.
UH, WE'RE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL FOR, UH, THE SERVICE OF CITY AUDITOR COURTNEY SMITH.
UH, BUT NOW WE'LL BE SEEKING, UH, HER REPLACEMENT.
AND, UH, WE'LL GO INTO THIS, THIS PIECE IN A MOMENT.
BUT THE CURRENT, UH, SALARY FOR THE CITY AUDITOR POSITION, UH, IS NOT REFLECTIVE OF WHAT WE NEED TO HAVE IN ORDER TO ATTRACT A VERY TALENTED AND CAPABLE PERSON TO LEAD THIS CRITICAL FUNCTION.
SO, WE'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THAT.
UH, WE'LL ALSO GO IN DEPTH ABOUT THE NEED FOR EXPANDED AUDIT, NOT ONLY THE NUMBER OF AUDITORS THAT WE HAVE, BUT ALSO THE FUNCTIONS THAT ARE REPRESENTED WITHIN OUR AUDIT DIVISION.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE NEEDS TO IMPROVE, UH, THE CITY'S TRANSPARENCY TOOLS, WHICH WILL GIVE US, WHO ARE SITTING AROUND THIS HORSESHOE, BUT ALSO, UH, EVERYDAY HOUSTONIANS WHO WANNA LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON AT THE CITY, UH, ACCESS TO THAT INFORMATION IN WAYS THAT THEY, THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TODAY.
SO WE'LL GO FIRST INTO, UH, THE CITY AUDITOR'S, UH, SALARY, IF WE'LL JUMP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO I DON'T THINK I HAVE TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU, BUT I WILL.
UH, IT IS CRITICAL TO OUR CITY'S FUTURE THAT WE HAVE A STRONG AUDIT FUNCTION.
UH, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE MANAGE RISKS AND, UH, WORK TO PREVENT FRAUD.
UH, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY, UH, IN THE WAY THAT WE ALLOCATE RESOURCES, THAT WE PUSH FOR OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY, EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS.
UH, THAT WE HAVE INFORMED DECISION MAKING BY OUR DEPARTMENT LEADERS, AS WELL AS THE POLICY MAKERS ON CITY HALL, UH, ON CITY COUNCIL, AND THEN ALSO THAT WE COMPLY WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT YOU ALL RECOGNIZE THE NEED, UH, FOR STRONG LEADERSHIP, AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT LEADERS OF CITY DEPARTMENTS, UM, ARE PRIORITIZED FOR, FOR COMPENSATION, FOR VERY IMPORTANT POSITIONS.
UH, IF WE LOOK AT THE HIGHEST PAID EMPLOYEES IN OUR CITY, IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT THEY'RE VERY IMPORTANT POSITIONS, RIGHT? OUR POLICE CHIEF, UH, OUR CITY ATTORNEY, THE FOLKS WHO LEAVE THE AIRPORT, THE FOLKS WHO LEAVE PUBLIC WORKS, UH, THE FOLKS WHO LEAVE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, UM, THIS MAKES TOTAL SENSE.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT, UM, WHERE OUR CITY AUDITOR FALLS ON THIS NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE THAT THAT'S NOT REFLECTED IN, YOU KNOW, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CITY AUDITOR'S POSITION IS NOT REFLECTED IN THE POSITION SALARY.
IN FACT, UH, THE CITY AUDITOR IS THE 77TH, YOU KNOW, HIGHEST PAID EMPLOYEE IN THE CITY.
UH, IF THE CITY AUDITOR WERE TO SIT IN SOME OTHER DEPARTMENT, THERE WOULD BE 17 EMPLOYEES OF HPD THAT GET PAID MORE THAN THE CITY AUDITOR, 15 IN LEGAL, EIGHT IN AIRPORT, EIGHT IN PUBLIC WORKS, AND THE LIST GOES ON.
UH, THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT THE FOLKS WHO ARE DOING THOSE JOBS DON'T DESERVE THE COMPENSATION THAT THEY RECEIVE.
IT'S SIMPLY THAT WE'VE BEEN OVERLOOKING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CITY AUDITOR POSITION FOR A LONG TIME, AND WE NEED TO CORRECT THAT.
UH, AS WE LOOK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WOULD NEED TO PAY THE CITY AUDITOR TO ATTRACT THE REQUISITE LEVEL OF TALENT, UH, WE COMPARED, UH, THE POSITION TO OTHER POSITIONS WITHIN THE CITY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE PERSON WHO WE EXPECT TO TAKE THAT POSITION WOULD LARGELY BE COMING FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND WOULD LARGELY, UH, BE COMING FROM A SERVICES FIRM.
SO, COMPARING OUR CITY ATTORNEY TO, YOU KNOW, A LAW FIRM COMPARING OUR LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC WORKS TO LARGE AND ENGINEERING FIRMS, AND COMPARING OUR CITY AUDITOR TO SOMEONE WHO WOULD BE AT AN AUDIT FIRM.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU CAN SEE HERE IS THERE'S NO COMPARISON TO, TO WHAT THESE TALENTED INDIVIDUALS COULD RECEIVE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, RIGHT? PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
THERE'S NO WAY THAT WE COULD MATCH, YOU KNOW, A MILLION DOLLAR SALARY THAT AN AUDIT PARTNER MIGHT MAKE, OR THAT A LAW FIRM PARTNER MIGHT MAKE.
THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE ON THESE JOBS, THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A HEART AND A COMMITMENT, UH, FOR PUBLIC SERVICE.
THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, UM, I THINK WE ALSO HAVE MADE IT CLEAR THAT WE VALUE THESE POSITIONS AND THAT WE, WE PUT THAT SALARY FIGURE
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IN A PLACE WHERE EVEN, YOU KNOW, A SERVICE ORIENTED PERSON COULD, COULD MAKE THE SACRIFICE, UH, TO COME AND DO THIS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT WORK.AND SO, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, OUR CITY ATTORNEY, YOU KNOW, WHERE HE WORKING AT, UM, A WHITE SHOE LAW FIRM IN TOWN, HE COULD EASILY COMMAND A SALARY OF, OF 700 TO EVEN $1.5 MILLION.
UM, TAKES A SERIOUS PAY CUT TO WORK HERE THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SAID, YOU KNOW, HIGHEST PAID EMPLOYEE IN THE CITY.
UH, SIMILARLY AT PUBLIC WORKS, IF, IF OUR PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR WERE A SENIOR VP AT SAY, A ECOM OR HNTB, OR ONE OF THESE BIG ENGINEERING FIRMS, UH, WOULD EASILY COMMAND UPWARDS OF HALF A MILLION DOLLARS GETTING CLOSE TO A MILLION DOLLARS.
THEY TAKE A SERIOUS PAY CUT TO WORK HERE, BUT, BUT THEY'RE PAID HANDSOMELY AS IT RELATES TO OTHER CITY POSITIONS.
UM, IN AUDIT, THAT'S, THAT'S NOT REFLECTED.
IF, UH, OUR CITY AUDITOR WERE TO BE A PARTNER AT, UH, ACCENTURE OR A-K-P-M-G, THEY WOULD BE MAKING WELL UPWARDS OF $600,000, UH, EVEN UPWARDS OF A MILLION DOLLARS.
AND AGAIN, RIGHT NOW THE COMPENSATION ISN'T EVEN CLOSE TO THAT.
SO WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING TO LEADERS OF EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS TALKING TO, UH, PARTNERS AT THESE AUDIT FIRMS, JUST TO SAY, WHAT'S THE BARE MINIMUM THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO PUT INTO THIS SALARY FIGURE THAT SOMEONE WOULD EVEN TAKE, YOU KNOW, A SECOND LOOK AT IT.
AND WHERE WE CAME BACK TO WAS SOMEWHERE IN THE REALM OF ABOUT $250,000, TWO 40 TO TWO 60.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE'RE ASKING FOR, TO, TO TACK ON AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT TO, UH, THIS PARTICULAR POSITION BECAUSE OF ITS IMPORTANCE SO THAT WE CAN GO OUT AND RECRUIT, YOU KNOW, A WORLD CLASS INDIVIDUAL TO LEAD THIS DIVISION.
UM, BEFORE I MOVE ON, I'D LIKE TO PAUSE THERE.
ARE THERE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS APPROPRIATE, MADAM CHAIR, BUT IF, DO FOLKS HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PIECE ON THE CITY AUDITOR'S SALARY BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD? SURE.
I, MY CONCERN, A QUESTION IS, IS THAT YOU, UH, REITERATING THE FACT THAT BASED UPON THE CITY AUDIT INCREASE THE AUDITOR, YOU SAID A FIRST CLASS AUDITOR OR SOMEONE THAT YOU DEEM IS IN COMPARISON TO THE CORPORATE WORLD? OR IS THAT, IF I UNDERSTOOD THAT CORRECT, YES.
THIS, THIS PERSON WOULD LEAD THE AUDIT DIVISION FOR THE LARGEST CITY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S MY VIEW, AND I DON'T THINK IT'S A CONTROVERSIAL VIEW THAT THEY NEED TO BE COMPENSATED AS IF THEY LEAD THE AUDIT DIVISION FOR THE LARGEST CITY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
NOW, IF I UNDERSTOOD CORRECTLY TOO, THE REQUEST COMING FROM YOU WAS THAT YOU NEED, AND WE ARE PAYING FOR AN OUTSIDE AUDITOR.
WE WERE, WE ARE, WE NEED TO HIRE OUR CITY AUDITOR IS RETIRING AFTER 15 YEARS OF MM-HMM
WE NEED TO HIRE HER REPLACEMENT.
AND SO THIS IS NOT, UM, LIKE A CONTRACT THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO SECURE.
WE'RE LOOKING TO HIRE SOMEONE TO COME AND DO THIS JOB IN-HOUSE.
AM I TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S BEEN A REQUEST THAT WE GET AN OUT RIGHT NOW UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF WHAT THE CITY IS GOING THROUGH FINANCIALLY MM-HMM
THAT HAS BEEN A REQUEST THAT THERE BE AN OUTSIDE ORDER TO AUDIT THE, THE FINANCES OF THE CITY IN TERMS OF OUR EXPENDITURES OF PAST N NO, THIS IS STANDARD PROCESS.
SO THIS IS NOT RELATED TO ANY POSITION WITHIN, THIS IS NOT RELATED TO THE CURRENT FINANCIAL PREDICAMENT OF THE CITY.
IT IS COMMON THAT, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WE AUDIT THE REST OF THE CITY MM-HMM
SOMEONE NEEDS TO AUDIT MY OFFICE INDEPENDENTLY, WE CANNOT AUDIT OURSELVES.
AND SO ON A REGULAR BASIS THERE, RIGHT, THERE IS AN OUTSIDE SERVICE THAT'S PROVIDED WHERE OUR DIVISION AND OUR DEPARTMENT IS AUDITED BY AN OUTSIDE FIRM.
THAT'S, THAT'S UNRELATED TO THIS REQUEST.
AND THAT'S ANNUAL, IS THAT, WOULD THAT BE ANNUALLY IF IT'S, IT'S USUALLY EVERY OTHER YEAR, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN.
WHAT WOULD THAT COST BE? I'D HAVE TO COME BACK TO YOU ON THAT.
THAT'S, THAT'S ALREADY IN THE, THE SERVICES BUDGET OF THE, THE DEPARTMENT.
I CAN COME BACK TO YOU SPECIFICALLY WITH THE HISTORICAL COST OF THAT OUTSIDE AUDIT.
UM, I'LL JUST, I'LL ALSO SAY THAT THERE'S AN ANNUAL AUDIT OF THE CITY'S, UH, AFER THAT'S CURRENTLY DONE BY, BY A FIRM CALLED JONES AND MCCONNELL.
THAT'S BEEN DONE FOR A NUMBER OF
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YEARS.THAT CONTRACT IS MANAGED BY THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT, NOT BY, UH, THE CONTROLLER'S DEPARTMENT.
COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER ALSO HAD A QUESTION ON THIS.
THE MAYOR'S OFFICE IS LOOKING AT DOING SOME, I GUESS, EFFICIENCY STUDIES, OR ARE THESE SIMILAR TO THE AUDITS? YOU WOULD BE, CAN YOU REPEAT THAT? COUNCIL MEMBER? FLICKINGER, WE HAD A LITTLE TROUBLE HEARING YOU.
CAN YOU REPEAT THAT? YES, I, I UNDERSTAND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE IS DOING SOME EFFICIENCY STUDIES.
IS THIS SIMILAR TO THE AUDITS THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE WOULD BE DOING? I THINK HE'S REFERRING TO THE ERNST AND YOUNG THING THAT WE JUST, UM, THAT WE JUST PASSED AT COUNCIL.
THE ERNST AND YOUNG EFFICIENCY AUDITS THAT ARE GONNA GO THROUGH THE CITY DEPARTMENTS, A SIX WEEK ENGAGEMENT.
UH, THE, THE WORK THAT ERNST AND YOUNG IS GOING TO COME AND DO, UH, WILL NOT BE AUDITING.
UH, WE ARE, WE'RE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF, OF THEM COMING AND TAKING AN INDEPENDENT LOOK AT, AT CITY FUNCTIONS.
I MEAN, SOME OF WHAT THEY WILL DO, AND I DON'T WANNA REDUCE IT TO THIS, BUT SOME OF WHAT THEY'LL DO WILL BE KIND OF SIMILAR TO THE PFM REPORT THAT GETS TALKED ABOUT SO MUCH, RIGHT.
JUST IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO BE MORE EFFICIENT, UH, AND EFFECTIVE.
AND, AND ONE PIECE OF IT IS ALSO LOOKING AT, UH, LOOKING FORENSICALLY AT THE CITY'S OPERATIONS TO POTENTIALLY FLAG, UH, SOME ISSUES.
UH, THAT'S WORK IS GONNA LAST, I BELIEVE, FOR SEVEN WEEKS.
AND THEN THEY'LL HAND US A REPORT AND THEN THEY'LL GO OFF INTO THE SUNSET.
UH, WHAT OUR AUDIT DIVISION DOES IS LOOK CONSISTENTLY AT, IF WE WERE DOING OUR JOB IN ITS FULLEST, HUNDREDS OF PROCESSES ACROSS THE CITY ON ANY GIVEN, UH, ANY GIVEN YEAR, UH, AS WELL AS ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN CALLED TO OUR ATTENTION AROUND, UH, PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY.
I THINK ANY NUMBER OF YOU HAVE HEARD FROM CONSTITUENTS ABOUT THE PERMITTING CENTER HAVE HEARD FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE ALL HEARD ABOUT HIGH WATER BILLS.
THE LIST CAN GO ON AND ON AND ON.
UH, BUT THIS IS AN ONGOING FUNCTION THAT, UH, THAT NEEDS TO EXIST.
OF COURSE, THAT DOES EXIST IN EVERY MAJOR, UH, COMPANY ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, THAT IN EVERY MAJOR CITY ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
UH, AS YOU'LL SEE WHEN WE TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE IN THIS NEXT PIECE ABOUT THE NEED FOR EXPANDING OUR AUDIT DIVISION, UH, WE ARE UNDERSTAFFED AND UNDERSIZED AND UNDER BUDGETED AS IT RELATES TO AUDIT, UH, IN GENERAL.
AND SO, WHILE WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE WORK THAT ERNST AND YOUNG IS GOING TO COME AND DO FOR SEVEN WEEKS HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE, UH, WE NEED TO HAVE THE FUNCTION, UH, IN-HOUSE AND THE CAPABILITY TO, TO DO THIS WORK ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UM, AND KIND OF ALONG THOSE SAME LINES, UM, AND YOU AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS, BUT JUST I WANTED TO BRING THIS UP HERE TOO.
IF WE WERE TO OUTSOURCE ALL OF THE AUDITING, AND I KNOW YOU JUST SAID THAT YOU WANT THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO DO IT IN-HOUSE, BUT, UM, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE COST OF WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IF WE WERE TO OUTSOURCE THE ENTIRE, UM, OPERATIONS OF AUDITING? SURE.
I MEAN, EVEN JUST, IF WE WERE TO GO, AND WE DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE SLIDE, BUT YOU SAW THE, THE SALARY THAT AN AUDIT PARTNER MAKES, RIGHT.
WHICH WOULD BE, UM, EQUIVALENT TO OUR, OUR CITY AUDITOR.
RIGHT? YOU, YOU'RE LOOKING AT FOUR TO FIVE X THE COST.
RIGHT? UM, SIMILARLY, IF WE WERE TO HAVE AN AUDIT FIRM COME IN AND DO EVERY SINGLE AUDIT THAT, THAT SAT IN THE CONTROLLER'S AUDIT PLAN, UH, YOU'RE GONNA BE PAYING SIGNIFICANTLY MORE, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, THOSE FEES TO, TO A, A CONTRACT AUDIT FIRM.
UH, THEY, OUTSIDE FIRMS DO FANTASTIC WORK.
UH, WE NEED TO HAVE PUBLIC SERVICE MINDED FOLKS COME AND DO THAT WORK IN HOUSE AND, AND THEN DO IT AT A PUBLIC SERVICE, UH, COST.
AND, UM, JUST ONE OTHER POINT.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS PUSH FOR SUNSET REVIEW PROCESS BECAUSE AFTER THESE AUDITS ARE DONE, A LOT OF TIMES IT JUST SITS THERE AND IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY COME BACK TO COUNCIL FOR US TO MAKE ANY OF THOSE RECOMMENDED CHANGES.
SO LAST YEAR I HAD THE BUDGET AMENDMENT, UM, FOR THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE TO COME AND PRESENT AT BFA.
WHEN AN AUDIT IS COMPLETE AND CHAIR, I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE CLOSELY IF WE ARE GOING TO START DOING EFFICIENCY AUDITS NOW, UM, THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE SOMETHING, AND THAT AFTER THAT'S DONE TO BRING IT TO COUNCIL TO ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THOSE CHANGES.
BECAUSE IF IT JUST SITS THERE AND NOTHING EVER HAPPENS WITH IT, WE'RE SPENDING ALL OF THIS
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MONEY FOR NOTHING.SO, UM, AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE GONNA FIND A LOT OF EFFICIENCIES AND A LOT OF MONEY THAT WE CAN SAVE.
SO I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO LOOK AT THAT CLOSELY, HOW WE CAN PRESENT THAT AT THIS COMMITTEE OR MAKE SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT ARE RECOMMENDED FROM THESE STUDIES.
UH, OBVIOUSLY WHAT HAPPENS IN COMMITTEE, UH, WILL, WILL BE UP TO OUR COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP.
YOU'RE GONNA COME WITH EVERY AUDIT.
I AGREE WITH THE VICE MAYOR PRO TEM.
WE, WE GET, WE'VE HAD SOME GOOD, REALLY GOOD AUDITS IN THE PAST, AND THEN THEY JUST KIND OF GO ON THE SHELF AND NOBODY REALLY ACTS ON THEM.
YOU EVENTUALLY WANT THESE POSITIONS TO PAY FOR THEMSELVES WITH EFFICIENCIES AND THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN FOUND.
NOT EVENTUALLY, WE WANT THEM TO IMMEDIATELY PAY FOR THEMSELVES AND MORE.
UH, AND YEAH, MY COMMITMENT TO YOU ALL IS THAT AS WE, YOU KNOW, ONE IS THAT WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT THESE AUDITS ARE SUBSTANTIVE, UM, AND THAT WE'RE GOING AFTER, YOU KNOW, THE BIGGEST BANG FOR OUR BUCK AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES THAT OUR CITY IS FACING.
AND THEN THAT WE PUT THIS INFORMATION IN FRONT OF YOU, UH, WITH, WITH VERY CLEAR RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEN, UH, YOU ALL CAN ACT UPON FROM YOUR CHAIRS.
COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO THANK YOU CHAIR, UM, CONTROLLER FOR THIS SALARY RANGE YOU'VE PROJECTED HERE, DOES, HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO OTHER LARGE CITIES, UH, AND ANY SIMILAR POSITIONS THEY HAVE? SURE.
SO, UM, SO WE'VE, WE'VE LOOKED ACROSS, UM, A NUMBER OF, OF MAJOR CITIES AND HAVEN'T, I'LL, I'LL BE JUST FRANK WITH YOU, HAVING BEEN CONCLUSIVE IN, IN WHAT GETS PAID.
IF, IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE DOES IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON VERSUS THE COMPTROLLER IN NEW YORK CITY AND THEN THE CONTROLLER IN LOS ANGELES, AND THEN THE TREASURER OR THE COMPTROLLER IN CHICAGO, OR THE CFO IN DALLAS, IT'S, THE OFFICES TEND TO BE LIKE, PRETTY DIFFERENT.
AND SO, UM, WHILE WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS IN A MOMENT, UH, SORT OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE, THE AUDIT DIVISION SAYING, HOW MANY FTES DO YOU HAVE? WE HAVEN'T BEEN CRYSTAL CLEAR IN, IN GETTING THE, THE COMPENSATION INFORMATION.
HOWEVER, UH, IN INTERVIEWS WITH EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS, WE'VE ASKED THEM TO COME BACK WITH, YOU KNOW, TO, TO JUST SAY, HEY, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO BE COMPETITIVE HERE? LIKE, IF WE WERE TO, UM, AND TO BE CLEAR, WE HAVE NOT SAID THAT WE WERE GONNA ENGAGE AN EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM, BUT WE SAID, HEY, IF WE, IF WE WERE THEORETICALLY GONNA ENGAGE YOU, WHAT WE WOULD NEED TO OFFER FOR THIS POSITION TO YOU, TO, TO YOU TO THINK YOU HAD A CHANCE OF GETTING US SOMEBODY GOOD, AND THEY'VE COME BACK WITH A FIGURE THAT'S HERE BEFORE US.
SO IS THIS IN YOUR OFFICE'S BUDGET CURRENTLY THIS INCREASED SALARY? OR IS THIS SOMETHING THAT WOULD NEED TO BE ADDED ADDITIONAL? NO, THESE ARE, THESE ARE ADDITIONAL REQUESTS.
SO WE WENT OVER A 10 AND A HALF, UH, MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET, THAT WAS THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET.
THESE THREE SPECIFIC ITEMS ARE, UH, PROPOSED ADDITIONS TO THAT BUDGET.
AND SO, YES, TO BE FRANK, WE WOULD NEED A MEMBER OF CITY COUNCIL TO OFFER AN AMENDMENT TO THE BUDGET, UH, FOR EACH OF THESE ITEMS. GOT IT.
IF YOU WERE SO MOVED, CHRIS, THE SLIDE, THE, UM, THE SLIDE WITH THE, THE, ALL THE NUMBERS, THE, WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY ON TOP WITH ALL THE SALARIES MM-HMM
IF YOU COULD PULL THAT ONE UP, KATIE.
SO IF THIS WAS APPROVED, WHERE WOULD CITY AUDITOR GO? WOULDN'T BE 77TH ANYMORE, BUT THIS WOULD, THIS WOULD GET THE CITY AUDITOR, I BELIEVE, TO ABOUT 10 OR 12.
THIS, THIS DATA IS, UH, YOU CAN SEE IN THE, THE EIGHT FONT AT THE BOTTOM.
THIS IS FISCAL YEAR 22, 23 DATA.
I HAVEN'T SEEN THE CURRENT DATA.
I, I HAVE A BELIEF AND UNDERSTANDING THAT SOME OF THESE POSITIONS GET PAID EVEN MORE TODAY OKAY.
AND SO, UH, WE'D HAVE TO GET WITH HR TO REQUEST THOSE FIGURES, BUT I BELIEVE IF WE'D BE IN THE 10 OR 12 RANGE.
UM, AND TO, TO PIGGYBACK ON COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO'S, UH, QUESTION.
ARE THERE, HAVE Y'ALL LOOKED AT HOW Y'ALL CAN FIND SOME DOLLARS WITHIN THE ACTUAL BUDGET RIGHT NOW TO HELP SUSTAIN THAT OR PUT IN THAT 64,000? THESE WOULD BE GENERAL FUND REQUESTS.
UM, WHEN WE DO THE WORK OF AUDITING, WE CAN DEFINITELY COME REIMBURSE BACK TO YOU WITH SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES.
UH, THERE'S NOTHING, THERE'S NOWHERE THAT I COULD SAY TODAY, LIKE, GO TO X DEPARTMENT AND TAKE OUTTA THEIR BUDGET.
WE, WE HAVEN'T DONE THAT ANALYSIS.
UM, AND I'M NOT GOING TO, UH, ACT AS IF WE HAVE, UH, WE NEED TO HAVE THESE PUBLIC SERVANTS HERE
[00:30:01]
DOING THIS WORK.UH, WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF ROCKS THAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY DIG UNDER.
UH, AND I'M EXTREMELY CONFIDENT THAT THERE WOULD BE OPPORTUNITIES THAT IN THE VERY NEAR TERM, UH, WE COULD LOCK IN SAVINGS THAT WOULD PAY FOR THESE INCREASES AND MORE.
AND I ASK BECAUSE I, I, UM, YOU KNOW, AS YOU'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH YOUR PRESENTATION, I, I AGREE, RIGHT? UM, YOU KNOW, THESE, THESE POSITIONS ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS AND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE COST TO DO THIS WORK, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT TAKES A TOLL ON FOLKS, YOU KNOW, FINANCIALLY, OF COURSE.
AND SO WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMPENSATE AT A, AT A LEVEL THAT WE, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ATTRACT SOME FOLKS.
AND SO I, I'M, I'M A PROPONENT OF WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING, UM, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE FUNDINGS, UM, UH, THE FUNDING, UH, FOR THAT.
UM, IN ADDITION TO, AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE, UH, ITEMS THAT WERE JUST RECENTLY PASSED FOR AUDITS, UM, TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU HAVE ACCESS OR YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THAT INFORMATION AS WELL, AND, YOU KNOW, HOW ARE YOU WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE ADMINISTRATION TO ENSURE THAT WE DON'T JUST PUT SOMETHING ELSE ON THE SHELF? THIS IS THE ER, THE ERNST AND YOUNG STUDY.
UM, FROM MY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MAYOR'S TEAM, UH, I WILL SIT ON, UH, THE REVIEW BOARD OR WHATEVER IT'S CALLED FOR, UH, THE WORK THAT, THAT ENY IS DOING.
SO WE'RE EXCITED, UH, ABOUT THAT.
AND, AND SO I SHOULD BE AT THE TABLE AS THEY'RE SHARING THEIR, THEIR RESULTS WITH US.
THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR, BECAUSE I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY, AND, AND I THINK THE ADMINISTRATION SAYS THIS ALL THE TIME, RIGHT? WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
UM, WE GOTTA FIGURE OUT WHERE THESE DOLLARS ARE GONNA COME FROM, UH, WHAT REVENUES WE CAN BRING IN.
UM, 'CAUSE I CAN'T SAY THIS ENOUGH, THIS IS A HUGE COURSE CORRECT.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M INTERESTED IN, IN TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHERE THAT 64,000 CAN COME FROM.
UH, BUT IF THERE'S ANY HELP FROM YOUR OFFICE, I, I, YOU KNOW, TAKE THAT AS WELL.
I MEAN, MY COMMITMENT THAT I'VE MADE TO EACH OF YOU IN PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS THAT I'LL SAY RIGHT HERE ON A PUBLIC MICROPHONE IS WE WILL EASILY IDENTIFY $864,000 IN SAVINGS ACROSS OUR 6.7 BILLION, UH, IN THE CITY, OR EVEN A 3 BILLION IN OUR GENERAL FUND.
YOU HAVE THAT GUARANTEE FROM ME.
IF, UH, IF YOU WERE TO APPROVE THIS, AND WE DID NOT IDENTIFY THIS, YOU COULD TAKE THIS BACK OUTTA MY BUDGET NEXT YEAR, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, LIKE, WE'RE GONNA DO THIS WORK, UH, AND WE'RE GONNA WORK TO IDENTIFY THE NECESSARY SAVINGS HERE.
ALRIGHT, ANY MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT, SPECIFICALLY ON THE, AND, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE SAID HOW MANY ADDITIONAL PEOPLE WOULD BE THAT 800,000 GET YOU? WE HAVE NOT EVEN GOTTEN TO THAT YET.
WOULD THAT BE MORE OF THE TWO 40 TO TWO 60 MORE OR LESS THAN THE, UM, CITY'S FINANCE DIRECTOR? I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THAT INFORMATION AT THE MOMENT.
I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS ON THIS? ALL RIGHT, CARRY ON,
ALRIGHT, SO NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE AUDIT DIVISION.
UM, AS A WHOLE, UH, AS I MENTIONED, COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ IN, IN, UH, THE TAIL END OF OUR PREVIOUS DISCUSSION IN FISCAL YEAR 2024, A PERFORMANCE, UH, FUNCTION WAS ADDED TO OUR AUDIT DIVISION THAT, THAT HAD NOT EXISTED BEFORE.
UH, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF NOT ONLY MAKING THOSE HIRES, BUT ALSO INCORPORATING THE PERFORMANCE AUDIT FUNCTIONALLY INTO HOW THE AUDIT DIVISION, UH, OPERATES.
AND WE'RE EXCITED WHAT THAT'S GONNA BRING.
UH, IN THE COMING FISCAL YEAR.
THERE STILL REMAINS A NUMBER OF FUNCTIONS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE.
UM, AND WE REMAIN UNDERSTAFFED OVERALL, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT NOW.
SO, THE CITY OF HOUSTON, AS YOU ALL KNOW, LARGEST CITY IN THE STATE, LARGEST BUDGET, UM, IN THE STATE.
HOWEVER, EVEN WITH THE PERFORMANCE DIVISIONS, THAT THE PERFORMANCE FUNCTION THAT WAS ADDED LAST FISCAL YEAR, WE REMAIN THE SMALLEST IN TERMS OF BUDGETED FTES IN AUDIT, UH, STATEWIDE AMONGST MAJOR CITIES.
UH, TO PUT THAT A BIT MORE IN PERSPECTIVE, IF WE JUST LOOK AT OUR BUDGET, COMPARE THAT TO OUR NUMBER OF FTES AND SAY, WHAT'S THE BUDGETED AMOUNT THAT EACH AUDIT FTE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR? UH, WE ARE AT DOUBLE, UH, THE CITY AVERAGE ACROSS, UH, MAJOR CITIES IN TEXAS.
IF WE COMPARE, NOT ONLY, NOT JUST TO THE AVERAGE, BUT TO THE NEXT HIGHEST, UH, COMPETITOR, WHICH IS DALLAS.
WE'RE 60% HIGHER THAN DALLAS, UH, ON THIS FIGURE.
AND SO IF WE ASKED OURSELVES, UH, BECAUSE I'VE, WHAT I HEARD FROM YOU ALL EARLIER IN THE YEAR WAS, WELL, WHAT'S THE RIGHT NUMBER? RIGHT? HOW MANY SHOULD WE HAVE? AND SO WE SAID, LOOK, LET'S, LET'S START WITH GETTING TO
[00:35:01]
THE DALLAS FIGURE, NOT EVEN THE AVERAGE, BUT YOU KNOW, THE NEXT HIGHEST MAJOR CITY THAT WOULD STILL REQUIRE, AGAIN, A 60%, UH, PARDON ME, THAT WOULD STILL REQUIRE, UH, AN FTE INCREASE OF, OF 12, UH, UP TO A TOTAL OF 28.AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN A SECOND.
COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER ASKED MAYBE A MONTH OR SO AGO ABOUT THE EFFICIENCY OF OUR AUDIT TEAM AND, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY AUDITS WE'RE ABLE TO, TO ACHIEVE, YOU KNOW, PER FTE.
UH, HE HAD ASKED FOR A, A PRIVATE SECTOR COMPARISON.
UH, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO LOCATE THAT A PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR FIRMS DON'T LAY OUT THAT DATA, BUT WE WERE, WE WERE OF COURSE, ABLE TO COMPARE OURSELVES TO THE PUBLIC AUDITS THAT WERE COMPLETED BY OUR PEER CITIES AND A NUMBER OF FTES THAT THEY HAVE.
UH, WE ARE MORE, UH, PRODUCTIVE THAN ALL BUT ONE OF THEM.
AND IN FACT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA BE GETTING IN TOUCH WITH SAN ANTONIO SOON TO, TO ASK THEM HOW ARE THEY ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT NUMBER.
BUT FOR THE REMAINDER OF DALLAS, AUSTIN, AND FORT WORTH, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABLE TO DO MORE ON A PER FTE BASIS, UH, THAN THEY ARE.
THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, UH, WE HAD SOME SERIOUS VACANCY ISSUES IN YEARS PAST.
AND, UM, WE'VE ALLEVIATED THOSE AND, BUT WE'RE STILL, AGAIN, SMALL AND UNDERSTAFFED.
AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE 200 PLUS KEY AUDIBLE PROCESSES WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, WE HAVE ONLY LOOKED AT 28 OF THOSE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
MORE THAN 85% OF THESE FUNCTIONS HAVE NOT BEEN LOOKED AT A SINGLE TIME IN A FIVE YEAR PERIOD.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHILE OUR BASELINE ASSUMPTION IS THAT PEOPLE ARE DOING GREAT WORK, UH, AND THAT THAT IS FREE OF WASTE AND FRAUD, UH, WE DON'T KNOW THAT BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T LOOKED AT IT.
AND OF COURSE, HAVING LONGER AUDIT CYCLES DRIVEN BY FEWER PEOPLE, SLOWS US DOWN AND MAKES IT MUCH TOUGHER FOR US TO, TO TRY AND CLOSE THIS GAP.
SO IN ADDITION TO JUST THE PURE LACK OF THE NUMBER OF AUDITORS THAT WE HAVE, WE'RE ALSO MISSING SOME KEY FUNCTIONS.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT PROCESS, THAT'S WHAT'S EXISTED FOR A LONG TIME.
UH, THIS INCLUDES AUDITS LIKE THE, THE WAY THAT WE MANAGE INVENTORY OF OUR TRASH BINS AT SOLID WASTE, RIGHT? THIS IS LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, GSD, SECURITY, COMPLIANCE, ET CETERA.
WE'VE HAD THAT FUNCTION FOR A WHILE.
UH, IT IS UNDER STAFFED, BUT IT, IT EXISTS.
THE PERFORMANCE FUNCTION WE JUST ADDED, UH, RIGHT BEFORE A NUMBER OF US TOOK OFFICE IN DECEMBER.
UH, AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE, WE'RE BUILDING THIS, THIS, THIS UP.
THIS IS ALLOWING US TO LOOK AT THE PERFORMANCE.
SO NOT JUST INVENTORY MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTE, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO MORE TO PICK UP TRASH ON TIME? DO THEY HAVE THE RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED? ARE THEY OPERATING AS EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY AS THEY COULD BE? AND SO ON.
AND NOT TO PICK ON OUR, OUR GOOD FRIENDS AT SOLID WASTE.
THIS IS JUST A SINGLE EXAMPLE.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT WE CAN LOOK AT, UM, AND WILL BE LOOKING AT WITH THIS PERFORMANCE FUNCTION.
AND WE'RE GLAD, UM, THAT WE HAVE THEM.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER CRITICAL FUNCTIONS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE, AND THAT IT'S A REAL PROBLEM FOR THE CITY.
UH, WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT CONTRACTS, WE'RE NOT ANALYZING CONTRACTS FOR COST SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES.
WE'RE NOT ANALYZING CONTRACTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE RECEIVING THE BANG FOR OUR BUCK AND THE SERVICES THAT WE'RE PAYING FOR.
UH, WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT OUR CONTRACTS TO SEE IF FOLKS OWE US MONEY THAT, THAT WE'RE NOT GETTING PAID.
UH, THE, THE FUNCTION DOES NOT EXIST, UH, TODAY.
SIMILARLY, UH, FORENSICS, UH, MY GOOD FRIEND DAVE MARTIN, WHO WAS BANGING THIS DRUM FOR A LONG TIME, UH, BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE A FORENSIC AUDITING FUNCTION, PARTICULARLY TO, TO DETECT AND CRACK DOWN, UH, ON FRAUD, UH, AND, AND OTHER ILLEGITIMATE BEHAVIOR.
WE HAVE, UNFORTUNATELY, YOU KNOW, THROUGH VARIOUS INVESTIGATIONS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, TIPS AND SO ON, WE'VE SEEN SOME OF THESE SITUATIONS POP UP, YOU KNOW, OVER EVEN THE LAST YEAR OR COUPLE OF YEARS.
UH, WE NEED TO BE ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR THIS, UH, AND, AND EKING IT OUT OF THE SYSTEM.
AND WE CURRENTLY DON'T HAVE THE FUNCTION AT ALL.
AND THEN FINALLY, LOOKING AT GRANTS, I MENTIONED, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ, THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY ON THE REVENUE SIDE, UH, BUT IT ALSO BECOMES A RISK FOR THE CITY, EVEN WHEN WE WIN A GRANT AND ARE NOT DOING WHAT WE NEED, WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO DEPLOY THOSE FUNDS.
WE JUST SAW WHERE WE HAD TO GIVE SO MUCH MONEY BACK THAT WE WERE NOT ABLE TO DEPLOY IN, IN THE HOUSING SPACE.
AND THERE ARE ARE THOUSANDS OF HOUSTONIANS THAT COULD HAVE USED US DOING OUR JOB, YOU KNOW,
[00:40:01]
PROPERLY.AND SO WE NEED THAT FUNCTION TO EXIST ON NOT ONLY THE COMPLIANCE SIDE ONCE WE WIN A GRANT, BUT ALSO TO EVALUATE OUR PROCESSES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN TO SECURE, UH, THESE GRANTS.
AND SO, GOING BACK TO THAT FIGURE OF 28 AUDITORS, WHICH IS WHAT WOULD PUT US ON A COMPARABLE PLAYING FIELD WITH DALLAS ON SORT OF AN, YOU KNOW, DOLLARS AUDITED PER FTE UH, BASIS, UH, GROWING A SMALL DIVISION IS, IS CHALLENGING.
UM, AND SO WHAT WE RECOMMEND IS NOT AN ALL AT ONCE APPROACH, BUT TO GROW TO THAT 28 FTES OVER TWO FISCAL YEARS.
AND SO WHAT YOU SEE IN FRONT OF YOU IS SIX POSITIONS THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IN FISCAL YEAR 2025, AND THEN AN ADDITIONAL FIVE POSITIONS IN FISCAL YEAR, UH, 2026.
IF YOU LOOK TO THE RIGHT OF THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE SPECIFICALLY WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR, WHICH IS A, A SENIOR AUDITOR, UH, TO COME IN THREE MID-LEVELS, UH, AND TWO JUNIOR AUDITORS.
AND THE BUDGET IMPACT OF THIS IS, IS RIGHT AT $800,000.
I THINK OUR MATH HAS IT AT LIKE 7 99, 9 22 OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.
UM, BUT THIS IS WHAT THE, THOSE SIX POSITIONS WOULD BE.
AND THIS IS JUST, YOU KNOW, SALARY AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE VARIOUS OTHER THINGS THAT COME ALONG WITH, WITH THAT.
A NUMBER OF YOU HAVE ALREADY, YOU KNOW, ASKED THE QUESTIONS.
I THINK YOU WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE AUDIT DIVISION, BUT CERTAINLY OPEN TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ, THANK YOU CHAIR, UM, WHEN YOU, AND I APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, YOU LOOKING AT IT AS A FY 25 AND FY 26, UM, IS THE 800,000 FOR BOTH YEARS, OR THAT'S FOR, THAT'S FOR YEAR ONE FISCAL YEAR.
THIS IS FISCAL YEAR 2025 ALONE.
I WILL SAY THAT IT INCLUDES WHAT WE BELIEVE WOULD BE THE SORT OF LEADERSHIP OF THE FUNCTIONAL AREAS THAT WE NEED.
AND SO ESSENTIALLY ALL OF THE FISCAL YEAR 26 PROPOSED HIRES WOULD BE MORE JUNIOR AUDITORS JUST TO FILL IN THOSE TEAMS AND GIVE US MORE, UH, MORE BANDWIDTH.
SO WHAT WOULD THAT NUMBER LOOK LIKE, MORE OR LESS FOR 26 THEN? I DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT HERE, BUT IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE LOWER THAN THE $800,000 FIGURE.
I, AND I COULD GET BACK TO YOU WITH THAT.
UM, UH, AGAIN, I'M, I'M GONNA REITERATE ON THE, ON THE AUDIT PIECE, WE EXPECT ALL OF THESE TO BE NET POSITIVE, RIGHT? AND SO, YOU KNOW, THESE WILL EVENTUALLY CONVERT INTO NEGATIVE NUMBERS FOR US, RIGHT? WHERE WE'RE PAYING THEM HOWEVER MUCH PER AUDITOR, AND THEY'RE GIVING US SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN THAT BACK IN VALUE THAT WE WILL DOCUMENT, RECOMMEND TO YOU AND FOLLOW UP ON TO MAKE SURE, UM, THAT, AND, AND TO BE CLEAR, THE MAYOR'S, THE CEO OF THE CITY, YOU KNOW, HE WOULD'VE TO EFFECTUATE THESE CHANGES, THE DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP WOULD'VE TO DO THAT.
BUT WE WOULD BE PUSHING AND ADVOCATING FOR THESE CHANGES THAT ARE VERY CLEAR THAT THAT WOULD SAVE THE CITY MONEY AND HELP US TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES THAT WE HAVE.
UH, I APPRECIATE THE, THE AUDIT DIVISION AND THE COURT FUNCTIONS, SHARING THAT PROCESS.
UH, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS OF, OF WHAT SPECIFIC, UH, DEPARTMENTS YOU MIGHT WANT TO TACKLE FIRST AND WHERE YOU MIGHT SEE SOME, YOU KNOW, COST SAVINGS OR MAYBE SOME REVENUE GENERATING, UH, OPPORTUNITIES? SO, A, A BIG ONE THAT JUMPS OUT IS EARLY PAYMENTS ON CONTRACTS.
UH, SOME OF OUR LARGER CONTRACTS, UH, ALLOW US TO ACHIEVE 1% SAVINGS OR 2% SAVINGS SIMPLY BY PAYING A COUPLE OF WEEKS EARLIER THAN WE ALREADY DO.
UH, YOU KNOW, THIS WOULD BE PRETTY EASY TO EFFECTUATE AND, AND COULD SAVE, UH, MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I MEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT, SAY, $300 MILLION WORTH OF CONTRACTS, UM, WHICH BY THE WAY THAT I DIDN'T PULL THAT FIGURE OUT AT THIN AIR, WE'VE ALREADY IDENTIFIED AND, AND, AND OTHER, UH, CITY EMPLOYEES HAVE IDENTIFIED AT LEAST $300 MILLION IN CONTRACTS WHERE THESE TERMS ALREADY EXIST TODAY, 2% OF THAT IS $15 MILLION, RIGHT? SO, UH, THAT'S A BIG NUMBER.
LEMME ASK AGAIN, YOUR ASK, UH, FOR ADDITION TO THIS BUDGET ABOVE THE 6.7 IS HOW MUCH AGAIN? SO WHAT'S IN THE MAYOR'S PROPOSED BUDGET IS 10 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
UH, THE SUMS THAT YOU SEE HERE, UH, TOTAL ABOUT 1.2, UH, 864 OF THAT IS SPECIFICALLY FOR AUDIT.
UM, AND IT'S, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE ON THIS SLIDE RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF YOU.
AND THEN 360 IS SOMETHING THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MOMENT RELATED TO OUR TRANSPARENCY TOOLS.
[00:45:01]
UM, TOTAL IS, SO THE TOTAL OF THE 10.5 PLUS WHAT'S ON THIS GETS US TO ABOUT 11.7.NOW, ON PAGE 14, UH, OF THE, UH, PRESENTATION RIGHT NOW, PRESENTLY, YOU ARE THE, AND, AND COURSE WE ARE GRATEFUL TO APPRECIATE TO YOUR ADVANCING THE, UH, CITY CONTROLLER'S OFFICE TO EFFICIENCY AND SOME OF THE THINGS YOU MENTIONED.
THE, THE, THE PERSONNEL IS ALREADY 85%, I THINK, ACCORDING TO THE CHART.
AND THEN THE OTHER IS, UH, A MILLION RATHER 1.6 MILLION AVERAGE RIGHT NOW? THAT'S CORRECT.
UNDER THE OTHER, WHICH IS SERVICES, CORRECT.
SO UNDER THE, UNDER THE OTHER, THAT COVERS SERVICES AND RESTRICTED ACCOUNT MM-HMM
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
SO, SO WHAT, GIVE ME A, CAN I GET AN UNDERSTANDING AS TO ALL OF WHAT THE SERVICES PROVIDE VERSUS THE, UM, RESTRICTED ACCOUNT? SO RESTRICTED ACCOUNT, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, FOR EMPLOYEES, IT'S ALL THE THINGS THAT COME ALONG WITH BEING AN EMPLOYEE.
SO IT'S LIKE GETTING A LAPTOP AND AN EMAIL ADDRESS AND HAVING A PHONE NUMBER.
UH, THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT KIND OF ARE IN THAT RESTRICTED ACCOUNT.
THAT IS, THAT'S IN EVERY SINGLE DEPARTMENT'S BUDGET THAT JUST, WHEN YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYEE, YOU KNOW, WE GET BILLED BY IT BASICALLY TO ACCOUNT IN HR TO ACCOUNT FOR THE SERVICES THAT GET PROVIDED TO EACH EMPLOYEE.
UM, THE SERVICES THAT ARE THERE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHASE BANK TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OUR CITY EMPLOYEES GET PAID.
AND WE KEEP THE CITY'S MONEY IN VARIOUS ACCOUNTS.
UM, THAT'S A SERVICE THAT GETS CHARGED OUT OF OUR SERVICE FEES.
UH, AGAIN, WE, UH, WE HAVE, UH, A FINANCIAL ADVISOR TO OUR TREASURY DIVISION THAT INVESTS THE CITY'S, UH, $6 BILLION PORTFOLIO AND GETS ABOVE MARKET, UH, RETURNS.
SO WE PAY THAT FINANCIAL ADVISOR, UM, OUT OF, UH, THIS SERVICE BUDGET.
AND IN ADDITION, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, TEMP STAFFING AND CONSULTING THAT COMES ALONG IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT AREAS.
RIGHT NOW, A PARTICULAR AREA THAT WE'RE GETTING HELP IS WITH THE ANNUAL, UH, COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT.
AND AGAIN, THOSE TEMP SERVICES ARE PAID FOR FROM THAT LITTLE SERVICE PIECE.
UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT THESE CHANGES IN PAYING OR PROCESSING INVOICES BEING EASY TO AFFECT, THAT WOULD SAVE US MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
IS THERE ANY REASON WE CAN'T MAKE THOSE CHANGES TODAY? UM, I WOULD SAY THAT OUR ANALYSIS RIGHT NOW IS, IS HIGH LEVEL.
WE WOULD WANT TO PUSH ON THEM AND GET KIND OF DEEPER AND MORE SPECIFIC WITH THE SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS.
'CAUSE IT'S VERY EASY TO SNAP YOUR FINGERS AND SAY, HEY, WE COULD SAVE THIS MONEY TOMORROW.
BUT, UM, OFTENTIMES, PARTICULARLY IN A BUREAUCRACY, IT CAN BE A LITTLE BIT HARDER THAN THAT.
AND SO YOU HAVE TO IDENTIFY THE OBSTACLES THAT ARE IN OUR WAY AND THE SPECIFIC STEPS THAT IT WOULD TAKE TO EFFECTUATE THIS KIND OF CHANGE.
AND SO, WHILE I BELIEVE THAT OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR, WE COULD VERY EASILY HAVE THOSE PROCESSES IDENTIFIED AND RECOMMENDED AND EVEN EFFECTUATED.
UM, I WON'T SAY THAT SOMEONE COULD JUST WALK OUTTA THIS ROOM AND, AND MAKE IT HAPPEN.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THERE ARE 21,000 PEOPLE WORKING VERY, VERY HARD ACROSS THE CITY, UH, TO DO THEIR JOBS ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
DRIVING CHANGE IS, YOU KNOW, CAN BE CHALLENGING.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD NEED TO TAKE THE, THE REQUISITE APPROACH AND SERIOUSNESS AND COMMITMENT, UH, TO DRIVING THESE CHANGES.
AND SO, AGAIN, WHILE I, I'VE EASILY PUT A STAMP AND SAY OVER THE NEXT YEAR, WE COULD DO IT.
UM, I CAN'T SAY THAT WE COULD DO IT THIS AFTERNOON, AND WHICH THE DEPARTMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROCESSING THOSE INVOICES.
IT IS THE DEPARTMENT THAT YOU KNOW, IS PAYING THE BILL.
SO WHOEVER HAS THAT CONTRACT, IT'S, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE PROCESSES ON THEIR SIDE, ULTIMATELY THAT COMES OVER TO THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE, UH, FOR PAYMENT.
BUT THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE THE VERY LAST STEP IN THE PROCESS.
SO SOMEBODY'S GOTTA SIGN OFF ON IT AND SAYING, YES, WE GOT WHAT WE BOUGHT, THEY SENT IT TO YOU, AND YOU GO AHEAD AND PROCESS THE INVOICE.
ULTIMATELY, IT COMES TO US AND THEN THERE'S, THERE'S SOME CHECKS AND BALANCES ON OUR SIDE BEFORE, UH, WE GET IT OUT THE DOOR.
[00:50:01]
SO ALONG THOSE LINES, I'M LOOKING AT SLIDE 11 AND IT LOOKS LIKE RIGHT NOW, OR YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOING ABOUT $862,000 A YEAR IN EARLY PAYMENT DISCOUNTS SECURED ACCORDING TO YOUR PERFORMANCE MEASURE WITH NEXT YEAR BEING 950,000.YEAH, THAT'S, SO IN ORDER, IF YOU BEEFED UP THAT AUDIT DIVISION, YOU COULD DO SIGNIFICANTLY MORE? UH, CORRECT.
YOU WHAT'S ON, WHAT'S ON THIS PAGE ON 11 IS A VERY CONSERVATIVE SURE.
UH, FIGURE THAT WITH NO ADDITIONAL SUPPORT, WE THINK WE COULD, WE COULD.
UM, I REALLY LIKED WHAT YOU WERE SAYING ABOUT GRANTS.
UM, I'VE OFTEN BEEN FRUSTRATED WITH THE KIND OF NOT OUR, OUR GRANT SITUATION IS VERY DECENTRALIZED ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, IT'S HARD TO FIND OUT WHO'S APPLYING FOR WHAT, WHAT OUT OF HOW MANY GRANT APPLICATIONS DO WE SUCCEED IN GETTING THE GRANTS, UM, INFORMATION ABOUT THE, THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW, WHICH GRANTS ARE BEING SOUGHT, WHO ARE THE PARTNERS? UH, I I, I'M VERY INTERESTED IN THAT BEING KIND OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME KIND OF DEPOSITORY OF THE SOMEPLACE YOU COULD GO AT THE CITY TO SEE WHERE WE STAND IN EACH DEPARTMENT WITH, WITH OUR GRANTS.
UM, SO VERY INTERESTED IN THAT.
AND, AND HOW MANY, UM, YOU MIGHT HAVE IT ON ANOTHER SLIDE.
HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO PULL THAT TOGETHER? I BELIEVE IT'S TWO.
WE'VE MOVED ONE OR TWO SLIDES FORWARD, BUT ONE IS BETTER THAN NOTHING.
UH, AND RIGHT NOW IT'S, IT'S NOTHING.
SO YOU HAVE, SO WE HAVE, YEAH, WE HAVE ONE AND, AND YEAR ONE AND, AND AN ADDITIONAL SUPPORT IN YEAR TWO.
'CAUSE THE GRANTS DIVISION OF THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT, I FEEL LIKE JUST REALLY KIND OF KEEPS TRACK OF REPORTING AND THINGS, BUT THERE'S NO REALLY GENERAL OVERARCHING LOOK AT, AT GRANTS, AND THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN SOMETHING THAT I'VE BEEN INTERESTED IN.
ON, UM, LET'S SEE HOW, I REMEMBER AT THE END OF LAST YEAR, THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF, UM, AUDIT OR SOME INCREASE TO THE BUDGET FOR AUDIT.
SO THAT'S OUR PER OUR PERFORMANCE DIVISION.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THIS SLIDE THAT, THAT CURRENT STAFFING OF SEVEN, THAT'S THAT ONE THAT WAS CREATED IN 2024, THE SEVEN, CORRECT.
THAT USED TO BE ZERO, AND THEN NOW IT'S SEVEN.
SO SEVEN PEOPLE WERE ADDED WITH THAT ADDITION.
AND ABOUT THE COST OF THAT IS PROBABLY ABOUT 800,000 OR SOMETHING IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, OR SOMEWHERE AROUND THERE.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE COST OF THAT? IT'S A LITTLE HIGHER.
UM, I THINK IT'S ABOUT, I DON'T WANT, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU WITH THE NUMBER.
I THINK WE HAVE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER, BUT IT'S HIGHER.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS, YOU GUYS BEFORE HE GOES ON? OKAY.
WE COULD GO FIND OUT HOW MUCH EVERYBODY MAKES THIS MORNING.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN, HONESTLY, RIGHT, SO, AND THIS IS, THIS IS SOMETHING WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MOMENT HERE, RIGHT? FOR, FOR ME TO EVEN TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT CITY AUDITOR POSITION AND WHAT THAT MAKES.
THAT'S, THAT'S INFORMATION THAT IS HARD TO GET AND IT SHOULDN'T BE.
UM, YOU LOOK AT OTHER MAJOR CITIES, YOU LOOK AT ANY OTHER NUMBER OF GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES, AND IF SOMEONE'S INTERESTED IN HOW MUCH SENIOR LEADERS OR EVEN JUNIOR PEOPLE THAT THESE ORGANIZATIONS MAKE, YOU TYPE IN A NAME, TYPE IN A POSITION, BOOM, IT SPITS IT OUT.
WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING CLOSE TO THAT AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN, IN SOME DETAIL HERE.
UM, SO AGAIN, BEFORE, IN THE SAME WAY I KIND OF TALKED ABOUT OUR, OUR NEED FOR, FOR AUDITING, UH, I THINK WE ALL AGREE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPARENCY, UH, IN GOVERNMENT, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR WORK SHOULD BE OPEN TO PUBLIC SCRUTINY.
UM, WE SHOULD BE DRIVING OUT CORRUPTION AND EXPOSING, YOU KNOW, THIS INFORMATION TO THE LIGHT OF DAY, UH, WILL SUPPORT US IN DOING THAT.
WE ALSO WANT HOUSTONIANS TO BE WELL-INFORMED ABOUT INFORMATION HAPPENING OR NOT HAPPENING, YOU KNOW, IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.
UH, WE WANT OURSELVES AND OTHERS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
AND ULTIMATELY WE WANT, YOU KNOW, THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO, TO RING TRUE HERE AND CITY HALL AND THIS, YOU KNOW, MORE AND MORE TRANSPARENCY, UM, YOU KNOW, ENSURES THAT WE'RE ABLE TO HAVE OPEN AND HONEST DIALOGUE.
AND I KNOW THAT EVERYONE AROUND THIS HORSESHOE AND EVEN THOSE WHO HAPPEN TO BE ABSENT THIS MORNING AGREE WITH THAT.
SO THIS GIVES, UH, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF SMALL FONT HERE, BUT THIS, THIS GIVES US A QUICK TIMELINE ON EFFORTS SPECIFICALLY AROUND PROVIDING TRANSPARENCY TOOLS THAT THE PUBLIC, UH, CAN USE.
UH, CONTROLLER CHRIS BROWN FIRST STARTED RINGING THE BELL, UH, ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO, UH, IN THIS EFFORT SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THERE ARE OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS,
[00:55:01]
THERE'S EVEN A STANDARD PUT IN PLACE BY THE STATE COMPTROLLER ON GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AND THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON WASN'T MEETING THAT MARK.UM, FAST FORWARD TO BUDGET PROCESSES AND FISCAL YEAR, UH, 2020.
AND AT THAT POINT, YOU KNOW, CITY COUNCIL STARTED TO TAKE UP POTENTIAL EFFORTS TO, TO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF PUT OUR MONEY WHERE OUR MOUTH IS NOW IN 2020.
UM, A BUDGET AMENDMENT THAT COUNCIL MEMBER DAVE MARTIN AT THE TIME PUT FORWARD, UH, FAILED.
BUT THERE WAS CERTAINLY A VOICE AT THAT POINT SAYING, HEY, WE, WE WANNA GET BEHIND, UH, THESE EFFORTS.
FAST FORWARD TO 21 AND 22, UH, AGAIN, THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE CONTINUED TO PUSH, UH, I THINK TOOK MONEY OUT OF ITS OWN BUDGET AT THAT TIME TO TRY AND START THE GEARS ROLLING, UH, OR TURNING IN THIS DIRECTION.
AND THEN FINALLY IN 22, UH, BUDGET WAS PUT FORTH, UH, AND BUY-IN THAT CAME FROM, UH, OUR PREVIOUS MAYOR, THE FINANCE TEAM, IT LEGAL, A RA TO SAY, HEY, WE'RE GONNA CREATE THESE TOOLS AROUND OPEN BUDGETING, OPEN PAYROLL, OPEN CHECKBOOK.
UH, THOSE TOOLS THAT, THAT DO EXIST TODAY, WERE PUT IN PLACE, UH, IN LATE 22 AND 23.
UH, AND, AND WE SHOULD CELEBRATE NOT ONLY THE EFFORT THAT WENT IN, BUT THE OUTCOME, WHICH IS THAT, UH, AS A FISCAL YEAR 24, WE DO MEET THE STANDARD OF THE TEXAS COMPTROLLER.
UM, AND WE RECEIVE WHAT'S CALLED A TRANSPARENCY STAR, UH, AT THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UH, AND SO I, I DO WANT TO REITERATE A LOT OF WORK OVER MANY YEARS HAS GONE INTO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.
UH, AND WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR THAT NEXT SLIDE.
SO WE DO HAVE A SUITE OF TOOLS THAT, THAT HOUSTONIANS OR ANYONE ELSE COULD GO AND LOOK THROUGH TODAY.
THE PROBLEM NEXT SLIDE, UM, IS THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE HARD TO USE.
THEY'RE NOT USER FRIENDLY AND THEY'RE NOT COMPREHENSIVE.
UM, AND ANY ONE OF US, AND IN FACT I'LL TALK ABOUT MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SOON, IF WE WERE TRYING TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY THROUGH THESE TOOLS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO, IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO WE JUST HAVE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES HERE.
AND, AND, AND MADAM CHAIR, UH, YOU MENTIONED THIS, RIGHT? SOMEONE SAYING, OKAY, WELL HOW MUCH DOES THE CITY AUDITOR GET PAID? OR HOW MUCH DOES, UH, ANY OTHER RANDOM EMPLOYEE WHO THE CITY OF HOUSTON GET PAID? IT'S, IT'S MY BELIEF THAT, THAT TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING THAT CHECK AND AND ARE ENTITLED TO THAT INFORMATION.
THE INFORMATION IS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND.
UH, IF YOU WERE ABLE TO FIND OUR, OUR OPEN FINANCE, UH, PAGES, WHICH BY THEMSELVES ARE, ARE NOT THE EASIEST TO FIND ON THE, ON THE INTERNET, YOU CLICK THROUGH A COUPLE OF LINKS, YOU SCROLL DOWN THROUGH FIVE PAGES OF STUFF, AND THEN, UH, IF YOU WANTED TO GET THE PAYROLL INFORMATION, YOU WOULD'VE TO DOWNLOAD A CSV FILE.
I WON'T PUT ANYBODY ON THE SPOT HERE, BUT A LOT OF FOLKS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A CSV FILE IS.
AND AVERAGE HOUSTONIANS, UM, DON'T.
AND ONCE YOU WERE TO DOWNLOAD THAT CSV FILE, AND YOU'D HAVE TO OPEN UP EXCEL, AND YOU'D HAVE TO BE VERY, VERY PROFICIENT WITH MICROSOFT EXCEL TO KNOW HOW TO MANIPULATE A CSV FILE OF 20 PLUS THOUSAND ROWS TO EVEN START TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING, TRYING TO FIND.
EVEN IF YOU HAD ALL THAT EXPERIENCE, JOHN SMITH IN THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE, HIS NAME IS NOT EVEN IN THE DATABASE AT ALL.
AND SO, UH, THAT INFORMATION JUST, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FIND IT.
UH, SIMILARLY, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF MAKING THIS A ONE STOP SHOP FOR HOUSTONIANS, IF YOU WERE CONCERNED WITH A PROJECT THAT WAS HAPPENING OR THAT YOU THOUGHT SHOULD BE HAPPENING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND YOU WANTED TO GO AND DIG INTO IT, UM, THAT INFORMATION DOESN'T EXIST ON OUR DATA TRANSPARENCY TOOLS TODAY.
SO IF YOU WENT THERE AND YOU WERE LOOKING FOR IT, IT WOULD NOT BE THERE.
AND SO, BECAUSE AGAIN, WE'RE LOOKING FOR SIMPLICITY, UH, A HOUSTONIAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO COME TO ONE PLACE AND FIND THE INFORMATION THAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR, AND THAT DOESN'T EXIST RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN THERE'S JUST, JUST WONDERING, RIGHT? I MEAN, WE'RE USING THE EXAMPLE OF, OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT OR A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WHO'S DOING SOME HOMEWORK FOR SOCIAL STUDIES AND WANTS TO KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH THE CITY IS ALLOCATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY.
IF YOU WERE TO COME INTO, UH, OUR, OUR WEBSITES, CLICK ON, UH, LINKS AROUND OPEN FINANCE AND OUR DATA PORTAL, CLICK ON THE BUDGET LEAKS, SCROLL THROUGH THESE DIFFERENT PAGES, UH, IT'S JUST REALLY
[01:00:01]
HARD, UH, TO FIND THIS INFORMATION.AND, AND AGAIN, I TOLD YOU I WOULD, I WOULD GIVE, UH, I, I'D BE VULNERABLE AND, AND, AND PROVIDE MY PERSONAL STORY.
UH, I WAS GIVEN A SPEECH ABOUT THE CITY'S FINANCES TO SOME PUBLIC FINANCE PROFESSIONALS ABOUT A MONTH AND CHANGE AGO.
AND I WANTED TO GO, WE ALL KNOW, LIKE THE POLICE AND FIRE STATISTIC.
AND I WANTED TO GO LIKE A COUPLE LEVEL BEYOND THAT, THAT TO SAY WHAT'S THE PERCENTAGE OF OUR GENERAL FUND THAT WE'RE SPENDING ON, SAY, PARKS.
I WENT TO OUR OPEN FINANCE TOOLS LIKE A HALF AN HOUR BEFORE I WAS GONNA MAKE THIS SPEECH, AND I LIKE, LITERALLY COULD NOT FIND THIS INFORMATION, WHICH IS REALLY BASIC TOP LINE INFORMATION.
AND SO I HAD TO CALL MY OFFICE AND HAVE ONE OF OUR FINANCIAL REPORTING FOLKS LIKE, DIG IN AND LIKE, SEND ME THE NUMBER BACK.
THE AVERAGE HOUSTON, THE AVERAGE HOUSTONIAN CANNOT MAKE THAT PHONE CALL AND SHOULD NOT HAVE TO MAKE THAT PHONE CALL.
UM, AND, AND WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.
I KNOW I'M TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO USE GOOGLE EVERY SINGLE DAY OR BEING, I DON'T WANNA, YOU KNOW, BE, UH, PUTTING MY FOOT ON THE, THE BALANCE THERE.
BUT IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, OTHER CITIES HAVE HAVE MUCH MORE INTUITIVE, MUCH MORE USER-FRIENDLY, UH, SYSTEMS. EVEN GOING BACK TO THE WHOLE PAYROLL QUESTION, IF YOU WANTED TO KNOW WHAT SOMEBODY AT THE WHITE HOUSE GOT PAID TODAY, YOU LITERALLY JUST TYPE IN WHITE HOUSE SALARIES ON GOOGLE.
PROBABLY THE VERY FIRST LINK POPS UP SAYS WHITE HOUSE SALARIES.
YOU CLICK IT, YOU LOOK FOR THEIR NAME, IT TELLS YOU THEIR SALARY.
IT, IT'S THAT SIMPLE AND IT SHOULD BE THAT SIMPLE.
THERE'S NO REASON WHY IT SHOULDN'T BE THAT SIMPLE, EXCEPT WE JUST HAVE TO COMMIT TO DOING THE WORK TO MAKE IT THAT SIMPLE AND ACCESSIBLE.
AND, AND AS I'VE MENTIONED, AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY DEBATE AMONGST THIS GROUP THAT WE WANT THIS KIND OF TRANSPARENCY.
SO WE'VE SAT DOWN WITH THE MAYOR'S TEAM, UH, WITH THE CHIEF, THE DEPUTY CHIEF WITH MELISSA IN FINANCE AND HER TEAM AND, AND SAID, LET'S AGREE ON WHAT WE THINK SHOULD BE THE GOAL OF, OF THE TRANSPARENCY TOOLS THAT WE MAKE AVAILABLE TO HOUSTONIANS.
UM, AND SO WHAT YOU SEE ON THIS SLIDE IS REFLECTIVE OF, OF THAT CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE, UH, AND THE MAYOR'S TEAM.
NUMBER ONE, A SINGLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION.
THE FACT THAT WE HAVE DIFFERENT TOOLS FOR DIFFERENT STUFF IS ALREADY A START TO MAKING THINGS HARDER TO FIND.
BECAUSE IF YOU'RE NOT THE EXPERT IN HOW THIS ALL WORKS, YOU WANNA BE ABLE TO GO TO ONE PLACE.
YOU KNOW, IF, IF WE'RE SEARCHING FOR, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING, WE GO TO ONE PLACE, AGAIN, I GO TO GOOGLE, GENERALLY I TYPE THAT IN AND IT, IT SPITS OUT ANSWERS, RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO AND HAVE BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO FOR LITERAL DECADES.
NOW, THAT'S NOT AVAILABLE AT THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UH, WE ALSO WANT THIS TO BE IN NATURAL LANGUAGE AND PLAIN SPEAK, RIGHT? PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEY WANT THEIR TRASH PICKED UP.
WE CALL IT THE SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT HERE AT THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
AND SO OUR SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THAT, WHERE IF YOU TYPE IN SOMETHING IN NATURAL LANGUAGE, THAT IT POINTS YOU IN IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
UH, SIMILARLY WHEN IT COMES TO VISUALIZATION AND, UH, AND GEOSPATIAL UNDERSTANDING, UM, YOU KNOW, FOLKS MIGHT NOT KNOW WHAT CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT THEY LIVE IN, BUT THEY KNOW WHERE THEY LIVE, YOU KNOW, ON THE MAP.
THEY KNOW WHAT INTERSECTION THEY, THAT THEY'RE CARING ABOUT.
WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO OFFER THAT FUNCTIONALITY WHERE THEY CAN SAY, OH, I'M LOOKING AT THAT RIGHT THERE.
AND THEN IT STARTS TO GIVE THEM THE INFORMATION, UH, THAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.
SIMILARLY, I, I THINK PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THINGS VISUALLY SOMETIMES.
SO OUR CHARTS AND GRAPHS AND THAT KIND OF THING SHOULD MAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE SENSE.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, THE INFORMATION SHOULD BE COMPREHENSIVE AND IT SHOULD BE EASY TO FIND.
SO SEO OPTIMIZE JUST MEANS THAT WHEN YOU TYPE IN A CITY OF HOUSTON FINANCE QUESTION THAT THIS POPS UP TO BE YOUR NUMBER ONE OR NUMBER TWO RESULT VERSUS BEING BURIED IN A WAY THAT YOU CAN'T, UM, LOCATE.
AND THEN THE VERY LAST PIECE IS CONTEXTUAL.
SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN HELPFUL, AGAIN, EVEN WITH ANY EFFORT WE MIGHT MAKE TO MAKE THIS ACCESSIBLE AND SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND, IT STILL COULD BE A LITTLE COMPLEX.
AND SO ADDING CONTEXTUAL LANGUAGE THAT EXPLAINS WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT.
AND AGAIN, WE, I I THINK WE, WE ALL KNOW THROUGH OUR OWN DAILY EXPERIENCES THAT THESE FUNCTIONS, THIS TECHNOLOGY ALL EXISTS.
WE SIMPLY HAVE TO COMMIT TO MAKING IT AVAILABLE TO HOUSTONIANS ABOUT THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S FINANCES AND OPERATIONS.
UH, SO WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE OUR PROPOSED NEXT STEPS HERE? UH, NUMBER ONE, UH, I THINK WE'VE MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE AS THE, THE, THE WATCHDOG FOR THE CITY'S FINANCES, UM, HAS THE DUTY, UH, AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PUSHING FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
AND WE THINK, YOU KNOW, PUSHING AND EXPANDING UPON THESE TOOLS FALLS WELL, UH, WITHIN THAT, UH, WE DO NEED TO ENGAGE WITH, UH, THE FINE PROFESSIONALS, UH,
[01:05:01]
IN IT TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT EXISTS RIGHT NOW, WHAT THE CHALLENGES ARE, UM, WHAT EFFORTS ARE ALREADY UNDERWAY TO IMPROVE UPON WHAT WE HAVE.AND THEN SCOPE OUT, UH, FROM A TECHNICAL STANDPOINT, WHAT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO BRING ABOUT THE TRANSPARENCY TOOL THAT WE THINK SHOULD EXIST, UH, FOR HOUSTONIANS.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY THERE WOULD BE A LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP WITH IT TO MANAGE THE ACCESSIBILITY AND THE INTEGRITY AND THE SECURITY OF WHATEVER DATA, UM, THAT WE PROVIDED.
UH, IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE TALKED TO EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS, ET CETERA, ABOUT WHAT WE WOULD NEED TO PAY OUR CITY AUDITOR.
UH, WE'VE TALKED TO A NUMBER OF POTENTIAL VENDORS ABOUT WHAT THIS TECHNOLOGY MIGHT COST, HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO SET IT UP AND MAINTAIN IT.
UH, WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN TERMS OF THE SETUP IS SOMEWHERE IN THE 150 TO $200,000 RANGE, WHAT WE'VE SEEN FOR A LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE IS ABOUT A $200,000 ANNUAL MAINTENANCE, UH, COST, WHICH LIKELY WOULD INCREASE, YOU KNOW, OVER TIME WITH LIKE, JUST GENERAL INFLATION.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IS BOTH THAT, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST YEAR COST WOULD INCLUDE THE BUILD AND THE MAINTENANCE, WHICH WE'RE, WE'RE PEGGING AT $360,000.
UM, AS I MENTIONED, WE STILL NEED TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME TALKING WITH IT, SCOPING THIS OUT, AND THEN ULTIMATELY DOING A FORMAL RFP PROCESS AND SO ON.
SO THIS IS NOT A LINE IN THE SAND ON THIS NUMBER, THIS IS JUST THE RESEARCH THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO PUTS THE BUDGET FIGURE IN THIS BALLPARK.
AND SO WE'RE ASKING FOR THE $360,000, UH, TO BEGIN TO PUT THE TOOLS IN PLACE OVER THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR THAT, UH, WHICH PARTLY THE SINGLE TOOL IN PLACE THAT, THAT HOUSTONIANS WOULD BE ABLE TO USE TO ACCESS INFORMATION THAT THAT IS THEIRS THAT BELONGS TO THEM, AND THAT WE CAN USE AS POLICY MAKERS, UH, THAT YOU CAN USE AS POLICY MAKERS, UH, IN YOUR JOBS AS WELL.
UH, IF I DIDN'T HAVE JORDAN FRAZIER RIGHT HERE, MY EXCELLENT EXCEL PIVOT TABLE WIZARD, UH, I WOULDN'T KNOW WILL JONES WAS MY TUTOR.
WILL, WILL JONES WAS HER TUTOR BACK IN THE DAY, BUT SHE CAN FIND ANY NUMBER I NEED IN, IN SECONDS.
UM, BUT, UH, NOT EVERYBODY HAS A PIVOT TABLE EXPERT AT THEIR, UH, AT THE READY.
BUT I, I GOTTA TELL YOU, THIS REALLY MAKES ME MAD BECAUSE WE JUST SPENT $372,000 ON A TOOL THAT I WAS TOLD WAS GONNA DO ALL OF THIS.
SO, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHERE IT WENT WRONG.
I MEAN, I, I HEARD MANY PRESENTATIONS ABOUT WE WERE GONNA BE ABLE TO PULL UP EASILY, UM, THIS INFORMATION AND THAT INFORMATION.
I MEAN, IT'S NOT THAT IMPORTANT TO LOOK BACK, BUT I HAVE A HARD TIME SWALLOWING ANOTHER $360,000 FOR, FOR WHAT WE'VE, WE, WHAT WE PAID.
WELL, ACTUALLY EVEN MORE THAN THAT, IF YOU COUNT WHAT CHRIS BROWN PUT IN, UM, ON, ON, ON A TRANSPARENCY TOOL, I, I BELIEVE IN IT VERY MUCH.
BUT I'M, I'M, I THINK THAT IT, UH, IF THERE'S ANY WAY TO GO TO THE VENDOR THAT, THAT PUT WHAT WE HAVE IN PLACE TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, BUT, UM, I CAN HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS OFFLINE.
BUT, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO, IF I COULD JUST COMMENT BEFORE THAT, UM, CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND, UH, THE FRUSTRATION AND AS I'VE INQUIRED WITH MY TEAM ABOUT THE, THE SIX YEAR JOURNEY TO GET FROM WHERE WE WERE TO EVEN WHERE WE ARE, WHICH IS LEAPS AND BOUNDS BETTER THAN WHERE WE WERE.
UH, THERE SEEMS TO BE A, A NUMBER OF SORT OF FITS AND STARTS AND EXPLANATIONS, UM, THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SAID.
ALL WE CAN ACKNOWLEDGE IS WHAT WE HAVE TODAY AND THEN WHERE WE WANT TO BE, AND THEN CHART OUT HOW TO GET THERE.
UH, WE KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED, YOU KNOW, PARTNERSHIP FROM ACROSS THE CITY TO, TO EFFECTUATE, UH, THIS AND DO IT THE THE RIGHT WAY.
AND, AND THEN I ALSO DON'T WANNA LOOK PAST, AGAIN, EFFORTS THAT ALREADY MAY BE UNDERWAY, AND WE WANNA SPEND THE TIME TO GET TO, TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
BUT ULTIMATELY, IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE ON WHAT WE HAVE, FANTASTIC.
I DON'T WANNA COMMIT US TO DOING THAT.
I WANNA COMMIT US TO DOING THE RIGHT THING.
AND IF THAT MEANS THROWING THE OLD THING OUT BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY TO GET FROM WHERE WE ARE TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE, THEN THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
UH, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF WORK TO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU THAT ASSESSMENT.
COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU FOR THE VERY THOROUGH PRESENTATION.
UM, TWO QUESTIONS THAT I HAD, ONE, AND THESE SORT OF PIGGYBACK ON, UM, QUESTIONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER CAME AND ASKED, AND I KNOW SHE'S NOT HERE TODAY.
UM, DO YOU HAVE ACCESS OR DO YOU EVER NEED ACCESS TO INDEPENDENT LEGAL COUNSEL?
[01:10:01]
SO, UM, I WOULD SAY THE SHORT ANSWER, UH, IS YES.I MEAN, WE, WE ARE SET UP TO BE AN INDEPENDENT OFFICE OF THE CITY THAT HOLDS YOU ACCOUNTABLE, THAT HOLDS THE MAYOR, THAT HOLDS DEPARTMENTS ACCOUNTABLE.
UH, WE DO NOT HAVE INDEPENDENT LEGAL COUNSEL, UH, BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS WHERE YOU'RE GOING, I WOULD BE IN FAVOR OF US HAVING, UH, UH, INDEPENDENT LEGAL COUNSEL.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TODAY.
SO YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T HAVE IT.
UM, AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION IS THINKING ABOUT THE BUDGET AND ALSO YOUR FORECAST, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE ASSUMPTIONS IN THERE ABOUT THE, UH, FIREFIGHTER SETTLEMENT AND THE CBA.
HAVE YOU SEEN A COPY OF THE CBA? I HAVE NOT.
THE, UM, WHAT'S IN OUR COSTS PROJECTIONS FOR, UH, THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
IT'S, UH, IT'S IDENTICAL TO WHAT'S IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET FROM, FROM FINANCE.
AND SO BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT SEEN THE TERMS OF THE CBA, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE MARRIED TO JUST THOSE ASSUMPTIONS.
'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER REASON TO, TO, UH, AGREE OR DISAGREE.
I THINK WHERE, UM, I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, AN ASSUMPTION AROUND A 10% RAISE, ET CETERA IS PRETTY SOUND.
UM, WHERE WE NEED TO DIG A LITTLE BIT FURTHER IS ONCE, UH, YOU ALL AGREE TO THE BACK PAY SETTLEMENT, UH, IF YOU AGREE TO THE BACK PAY SETTLEMENT, PRICING THOSE BONDS OUT AND DETERMINING SOME OF THE FEATURES OF THE BONDS AND THE INTEREST RATES AND THE MATURITY AND SO ON, MIGHT IMPACT THE, UH, THE COST ON THE DEBT SERVICE.
BUT UNTIL THAT ONE, UNTIL SEEING THE CBA, WHICH WE HAVE NOT SEEN, AND THEN UNTIL GOING TO THE MARKET AND WORKING WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR BANKERS TO PRICE THOSE BONDS APPROPRIATELY, WE WON'T HAVE A, AN ACCURATE FIGURE OF, OF, OF WHAT THE DEBT SERVICE WOULD BE.
UH, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR, AND THANKS AGAIN FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, CONTROLLER HOLLINS, UH, WORKING BACKWARD A LITTLE BIT REGARDING THE TRANSPARENCY TOOL.
IT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD, QUITE FRANKLY.
HA HAVE YOU VISITED WITH THE, WITH THE, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, NUMBER ONE AND IT NUMBER TWO, REGARDING WHAT YOU, UH, SUGGEST WE DO IN THIS REGARD? WE HAD A MEETING VERY EARLY ON, UH, WITH IT.
SO THIS WOULD'VE BEEN IN, IN MID OR LATE JANUARY.
UH, WE'VE HAD MULTIPLE MEETINGS, UH, WITH A WORKING GROUP THAT INCLUDES, UM, YOU KNOW, SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE MAYOR'S TEAM ON THIS.
AND SO AGAIN, THAT'S WHERE, IF YOU GO BACK A COUPLE OF SLIDES ON SORT OF THE VISION FOR WHAT A, YOU KNOW, EFFECTIVE, ACCESSIBLE IT, I MEAN, UH, TRANSPARENCY TOOL WOULD BE THAT CAME FROM THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
UM, LAST WE LEFT IT, THE NEXT STEP WAS TO, TO GET IT IN A ROOM WITH ALL OF US AND HAVE THAT CONVERSATION.
UM, WE GOT INTO BUDGET SEASON MM-HMM
UH, I THINK THE MAYOR'S TEAM HAS BEEN, UH, NOT ONLY FOCUSED HEAVILY ON THE BUDGET, BUT ALSO FOCUSED ON RECOVERY EFFORTS AND SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED, RIGHT? MM-HMM
AND SO THAT, UH, THAT MEETING WITH IT HAS NOT TAKEN PLACE AS OF TODAY.
I, I DO HAVE A FEW OTHER QUESTIONS AND I'LL, I'LL WORK THROUGH THE BIG BOOK, SO TO SPEAK.
UM, WITH REGARD TO, I THINK ON PAGE, UH, THREE OF THE, THE SECTION FOR YOUR OFFICE OPERATIONS STAFF, IT LISTS JUST UNDER 20 FTES THAT ARE NOT LISTED UNDER AUDIT, EXECUTIVE TREASURY, OR FINANCIAL REPORTING.
CAN YOU TELL US WHAT THOSE 20 FTES DO? UH, SURE.
I CAN, I'LL GIVE YOU THE HIGH NOTES.
THE WAY THAT OUR VENDORS GET PAID, UH, COMES FROM WITHIN THE OPERATIONS, UH, DIVISION WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CERTIFYING THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.
SO MAKING SURE THAT EVERY TIME YOU ALL MEET IN CITY COUNCIL, THAT THOSE ORDINANCES ARE READY TO GO AND THAT WE HAVE THE MONEY TO DO WHAT YOU ALL MM-HMM
THAT GOES THROUGH THE, THE OPERATIONS, UH, DIVISION.
THERE'S ALSO ADMINISTRATION FUNCTIONS WITHIN THAT.
SO IT'S THE CONTROLLERS OFFICES LIKE HR LIAISONS, MAKING SURE THAT WE GET PENS AND PENCILS AND LAPTOPS AND ALL THE OTHER STUFF THAT WE NEED IN OUR OFFICE.
UM, ALL YEAH, JUST, I DON'T WANNA KIND OF OVERSIMPLIFY YOU SELL SLIDE 11.
[01:15:01]
SLIDE 11, UM, YOU KNOW, OPERATIONS WITHIN THE CITY, YOU KNOW, INVOICES, DISBURSEMENTS, YOU KNOW, TAXES, WHATEVER, ALL FLOW THROUGH OPERATIONS, THAT MEANS IT'S REALLY LIKE THE WORKHORSE DIVISION.STAFF'S WANTING ME TO ASK ABOUT
WELL, WHATEVER IS, IF THERE'S A WAY TO MAKE THAT SYSTEM MORE EFFICIENT, WE WOULD BE ALL FOR IT.
SO THERE'S, UM, A COUPLE THINGS.
OPERATIONS IS WORKING HARD, UM, AND HAS WORKED HARD FOR A LONG TIME TO GET OFF OF PAPER PROCESSES IN GENERAL.
SO, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN DOING DOCUSIGN FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME.
THE CITY HAS NOT BEEN DOING DOCUSIGN FOR VERY LONG, BUT WE'RE, ONE OF OUR LIKE, MAIN STRATEGIC GOALS IS TO GET AS MUCH STUFF ONTO DOCUSIGN AS, AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
AND OUR OPERATIONS DIVISION, UH, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DOING THAT.
UH, WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, THINGS AROUND TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENTS, AND WE, WE'VE HEARD FROM YOUR OFFICE ON A COUPLE OF THESE THINGS, I BELIEVE THAT SOME OF THE POLICY STUFF IS ACTUALLY LIKE Y'ALL'S DECISION TO MAKE.
HOWEVER, OUTSIDE OF THAT, IN TERMS OF WHAT'S REQUIRED FOR, UH, WE WANNA MAKE IT AS SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD AND EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE.
AND SO WE ARE WELCOME, UH, WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK ON THOSE THINGS.
WELL, WE CAN WORK ON THAT AND WE'LL MAKE, UH, SOME, SOME ADDITIONAL ADJUSTMENTS AS NEEDED.
COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ, THANK YOU CHAIR.
UM, IN, IN CONTROLLER WITHOUT REALLY, WELL, I APPRECIATE ALL THE ADDITIONAL ASK.
I THINK IT, IT ALLOWS US TO KIND OF GET A, GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW, UM, YOUR OFFICE COULD DO A BETTER JOB TO SECURE THOSE, THOSE, UH, THOSE DOLLARS.
UM, I'M ALSO IN AGREEMENT WITH OUR CHAIRWOMAN, RIGHT? WE HAVE THIS, THIS CHECKBOOK THAT'S ALREADY BEEN PUT OUT AND ALTHOUGH IT IS, UH, COMPLICATED, UH, TO GET, UH, INFORMATION, HOW WOULD YOU PRIORITIZE YOUR, YOUR THREE AS, RIGHT? THE CITY AUDITOR AUDIT DIVISION, AND EVEN THE AUDIT DIVISION.
IF YOU COULD BREAK IT DOWN TO IDENTIFY WHAT POSITIONS DO YOU NEED MOST RIGHT NOW FOR FY 25? SURE.
SO I, I WOULD SAY THAT THE, BOTH THE AUDIT PIECES, BUT PARTICULARLY THE, UM, I'M, I'M, I'M GONNA PUT BOTH OF THE AUDIT THINGS TOGETHER.
WE, WE NEED REALLY, REALLY STRONG LEADERSHIP AND WE NEED TO EXPAND THE DIVISION.
BUT I WOULD SAY THAT BOTH OF THE AUDIT PIECES ARE A NO BRAINER BECAUSE THEY WILL IMMEDIATELY PAY FOR THEMSELVES.
I CAN'T SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT THE TRANSPARENCY TOOL.
I THINK THE TRANSPARENCY TOOL IS GOOD GOVERNMENT.
UH, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD, AGAIN, HOUSTONIANS ARE, ARE PAYING TAXES.
THEY'RE FUNDING THIS ENTIRE OPERATION.
THEY DESERVE TO, TO HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT, UH, THAT GOES INTO OUR FINANCES AND OUR CITY OPERATIONS AND, AND KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT GOVERNMENT IS DOING FOR THEM OR NOT DOING FOR THEM, HOW EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE, UH, IT'S BEING.
BUT THAT IS A COST ITEM, RIGHT? THESE OTHER TWO, I THINK ARE COST SAVINGS OR REVENUE GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CITY.
AND AGAIN, SO I WOULD SAY THAT THOSE ARE ABSOLUTE NO-BRAINERS FOR THE TRANSPARENCY TOOL.
AS IMPORTANT AS I BELIEVE THAT IT IS, YOU KNOW, YOU ALL HAVE THE VOTES TO MAKE THE DECISION OF IF IT'S IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO YOU TO INVEST, YOU KNOW, $360,000 INTO IT.
MADAM CHAIR AND CONTROLLER HAWK, UH, HOLLINS BACK TO THE BIG BOOK UNDER DEPARTMENT SHORT-TERM GOALS.
THERE ARE THREE BULLET POINTS.
THE BANK ON HOUSTON PROGRAM, UH, WORK WITH LOCAL NONPROFITS TO INCREASE FINANCIAL LITERACY AND, UH, SUPPORT NONPROFIT TO EFFORT TO INCREASE, UH, PARTICIPATION IN VOLUNTEER TAX, UH, PREPARATION.
SO CAN YOU TELL US, ARE THERE, ARE THERE PUBLIC FUNDS SPENT ON THOSE, THOSE OBJECTIVES? UH, THE SHORT VERSION IS, IS NO, UH, THE BANK ON HOUSTON PROGRAM IS FUNDED BY 5 0 1 C3, UH, DOLLARS.
THERE'S MINOR, WHAT I WOULD CALL IN KIND, UH, SUPPORT FOR THE BANK ON HOUSTON PROGRAM.
SO THE BANK ON HOUSTON DIRECTOR HAS AN OFFICE, SO THEY GET A, YOU KNOW, A DESK AND AIR CONDITIONING IN A ROOM THAT THEY GET TO SIT IN.
UM, THEY ALSO HAVE A CITY EMAIL ADDRESS AND A CITY LAPTOP, BUT THAT IS THE EXTENT OF IT.
THEIR, THEIR SALARY, THEIR BENEFITS, UH, IS PAID FOR PURELY WITH, UH, FOUNDATION DOLLARS.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE, UH, THE OTHER TWO BULLET POINTS WORKING WITH, UH, LOCAL NONPROFITS? SAME THING? SAME THING.
WE, WE HAVE ONE BANK ON HOUSTON ASSOCIATE,
[01:20:02]
THEIR SALARY, THEIR BENEFITS ARE ALL PAID FOR, UM, NOT WITH CITY FUNDS, BUT WE, THEY HAVE A CITY EMAIL ADDRESS.UM, ON PAGE FOUR, UH, WE TALK ABOUT DOLLAR AMOUNT DOWN AT THE BOTTOM, PERFORMANCE MEASURES, DOLLAR AMOUNT OF COST, REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED, UH, FY 25, TARGET 1.6 MILLION.
IF, UH, IF THE PERSON ON THE SLIDES COULD GET US TO PAGE FOUR, SO I CAN SEE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, WHAT DIVISION IT IS.
UH, PAGE FOUR, THE BIG BOOK IT IS, UM, AUDIT.
OH, THIS IS THE, THE HUGE, THE BIG BUDGET BOOK.
SO, UH, 1.6 MILLION TARGET FOR FY 25, UH, COST REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED.
THIS SOUNDS, UM, LIKE SOME OF WHAT THE MAYOR'S OFFICE DOES.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY, ANY COLLABORATION ON THIS, UM, COMBINING OF, UH, EFFORTS, SO TO SPEAK OR, OR NOT? SO EFFORT HAS GONE INTO, UM, HAVING A WORKING GROUP THAT INCLUDES FOLKS FROM THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE AS WELL AS THE, THE MAYOR'S FINANCE TEAM, UH, AND OTHERS.
AND SO, SO THE SHORT ANSWER THERE, UH, IS YES, ULTIMATELY, YOU KNOW, MY JOB, RIGHT? WHAT EXISTS IN THE CITY CHARTER, WHY I'M ELECTED IS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY, UH, FOR THE CITY.
AND SO WE FULLY OWN THAT MANDATE AND WE EXPECT TO, TO DO IT WHETHER WE HAVE THE COOPERATION OF THE MAYOR OR NOT.
OF COURSE, WE ARE COMMITTED TO WORKING, UH, WITH THE MAYOR.
AND THERE HAVE BEEN STEPS TAKEN, UH, IN THE FIRST, YOU KNOW, FIVE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR TO WORK WITH SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE MAYOR'S TEAM ON ISSUES LIKE THIS.
SO LET'S, UH, LET'S GO THROUGH THIS HERE.
UM, PERFORMANCE MEASURES ON, ON THIS PAGE AUDIT ALSO TALK ABOUT THE FRAUD, WASTE AND ABUSE HOTLINE.
UH, AND I WAS WONDERING HOW THAT HOTLINE, UH, WAS DOING.
ARE WE, ARE WE ACTUALLY GETTING REPORTS ON IT? THEY, THEY COME IN RARELY.
AND, UH, AND WHEN THAT, IT'S LIKE LITERALLY A BACK PHONE, IT RINGS AND WE TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE RESPONSIVE.
AND, UH, AND THEN WE, WE WHERE POSSIBLE, RIGHT? SOMETIMES A CALL COMES IN AND WE JUST SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, IF, IF IT'S A REAL FRAUD, WASTE, ABUSE, UH, ACTION, POTENTIALLY, WE IMMEDIATELY GO TO THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, REFER THEM, SO ON AND SO FORTH, GET THOSE REPORTS PUSHED OUT.
UM, SOMETIMES WHAT COMES IN IS, YOU CAN IMAGINE IT'S LIKE, THAT DOESN'T QUITE RISE TO MM-HMM
THIS, AND SO WE REFER THEM TO, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT'S A CALL ABOUT THE COUNTY AND WE SAY, OH, WELL THAT'S NOT THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
LET'S REFER YOU TO THEIR APPROPRIATE COUNTY NUMBER, AND SO ON.
SO A LOT OF IT IS A CUSTOMER SERVICE, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVISION MM-HMM
UM, BUT WHEN THOSE CALLS DO COME IN THAT ARE, THAT ARE TRULY, UM, FRAUD, WASTE AND ABUSE RELATED FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON, THEN WE TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION AND WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY ISSUE, UM, WITH, WITH MEETING OUR TARGETS ON RESPONSIVENESS.
AND LAST, UH, LAST AREA ON PAGE FIVE, DEALING WITH EXECUTIVE OVERSIGHT, UH, AGAIN, PERFORMANCE MEASURE, COMMUNITY EVENTS HOSTED.
CAN, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THOSE COMMUNITY EVENTS, UH, WERE, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE PURPOSE WAS AND SO FORTH? SURE.
SO, UM, AND I SHOULD SAY THE TARGET IS SEVEN FOR FY 25.
SO WHAT WAS, WHAT'S IN MIND THERE? UH, SO ONE IS THE, THE, THE, THE BUDGET TOWN HALL THAT WE'VE UNFORTUNATELY HAD TO RESCHEDULE A COUPLE OF TIMES.
UH, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF WHAT I WOULD CALL LONGSTANDING TRADITIONAL, UH, COMMUNITY EVENTS THAT COME OUTTA THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE.
UM, ONE IS A BACK TO SCHOOL DAY THAT HELPS KIDS, YOU KNOW, GET, UM, AND ALL OF THIS AGAIN, IS, IS PRIVATELY FUNDED, UH, OR OUTSIDE FUNDED, BUT IT'S, IT'S BACKPACKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES.
THERE'S A, A SENIOR'S OR GRANDPARENTS' DAY.
THERE IS, UH, A TRA YOU KNOW, FOR MANY, MANY YEARS GOING BACK TO CONTROLLER RON GREEN.
UH, THERE, THE CONTROLLER'S OFFICE PUTS ON A, A BLACK HISTORY, UH, PROGRAM.
UH, THAT'S IN THE, THE LEGACY, UH, ROOM DOWNSTAIRS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CONTINUED THAT TRADITION.
WE INVITED EACH OF YOU, UH, TO ATTEND AND SO ON.
SO THESE ARE, THESE ARE WHAT I WOULD JUST CALL KIND OF LIKE STANDARD, UH, COMMUNITY EVENTS.
UM, NOT TOO DIFFERENT FROM THE, THE TOWN HALLS THAT EACH OF YOU HAVE.
[01:25:01]
GOT IT.AND, AND THE LAST THING IS NOT REALLY A QUESTION, BUT JUST SORT OF A PLUG.
A COUPLE WEEKS AGO WE ASKED FOR A LIST OF OPEN FINDINGS ON, ON, UH, RECENT AUDITS.
AND SO STILL, STILL WAITING ON THAT.
GET A RESPONSE, RESPONSE TO THAT.
WOULD YOU MIND? I DON'T KNOW THAT I RECEIVED THAT DIRECTLY FROM YOU, WOULD YOU MIND JUST RIGHT.
IT WAS, IT WAS WITH YOUR STAFF, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL FOLLOW UP OFFLINE.
UM, CONTROLLER HOLLAND'S, GREAT WORK TODAY.
A LOT OF THOROUGH RESEARCH IN YOUR ASKS AND, AND GREAT PRESENTATIONS.
REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT YOU DO AND THAT ALL OF YOUR STAFF DOES.
I DO THINK WE HAVE A FEW PUBLIC SPEAKERS OR, OR A COUPLE SIGNED UP.
SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL 'EM OUT.
YOU CAN STEP BACK AND, UM, AGAIN, REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HARD WORK.
I KNOW Y'ALL HAVE SAT THROUGH A DOZEN OR SO OF THESE.
FLEET, THE ALL EXCITING FLEET DEPARTMENT IS AT ONE 30.
E ALICIA NEWMAN, ARE YOU HERE OR YOU'RE NOT HERE? I KNOW, BUT ARE YOU ONLINE? NO, DON'T SEE HER ONLINE.
NOW WE SEE NO ONE ONLINE, BUT I'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL THE NAME SIFE KA AND ROSANNA.
WELL, I ENCOURAGE, IF YOU'RE OUT THERE, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO SEND IN WRITTEN COMMENTS.
WE'LL MAKE SURE PEOPLE SEE THEM.
UM, COLLEAGUES, UM, WE WILL TAKE A, A BREAK FOR LUNCH AND COME BACK HERE AT ONE 30.