The Finance Committee met 11/20/2023. Two of the action items on the agenda were resolutions. Resolution 14-R-23 would change the date of the presentation of the executive budget from the first Wednesday in October to the third Wednesday in September. Resolution 13-R-23 would reallocate $25,000 in ARPA dollars to fund the acquisition and contract for 11 additional Flock License Plate Reading Cameras, bringing the total number of cameras the Police Department could acquire up to 29.
At the request of city staff members, particularly Finance Director Jeri Ohman who was not able to attend the 11/20 meeting, the committee voted to hold both resolutions until the 12/11/2023 Finance Committee meeting.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download.
The committee members did not discuss the resolutions in-depth or deliberate on them; however, Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3) who was the chair of the committee did ask committee members if they had any questions about the resolutions that they would like staff to look into ahead of the meeting on 12/11/2023.
Questions regarding the resolution changing the delivery date of the executive budget included:
- How would moving the budget delivery timeline up impact the work departments put in to producing their budgets?
- There was sometimes a deadline to get certain items approved by a certain date. Would this timeline change impact that?
Issues and questions regarding the resolution to use ARPA dollars to fund the acquisition of 11 Flock cameras included:
- A desire to have Police Chief Polly Olson participate in the discussion.
- Questions regarding the cost not only for the cameras but also for the entire Flock camera agreement.
- Would the resolution have to be approved as a budget amendment since in involved ARPA funds that had already been allocated for particular projects.
- Was it certain that using ARPA funds to cover the cost of the cameras and the contract would be an allowable use under ARPA guidelines?
- Were the cameras more important than increasing police staffing levels?
It was also noted that the deadline to purchase additional Flock cameras at $2,500 a camera as opposed to the $3,000 it would rise to in 2024 was the middle of December. The item could be held until December 11 and still potentially be approved by the deadline, but if it were held beyond that the deadline would be passed and the price per camera would increase.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1120755&GUID=051EBDD1-588C-4342-BCAA-AA53AA56A82A
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