constantly find your reports, right? Okay. Um, I have I'm a little distracted right now, but once we No, mentally, but once we end this part, I'll I'll double check. [Music]
All right. We have the chief here, right? And Wendy. Yeah. Yeah. Is councelor Luzon outside as well? Yeah, she was outside. You ready? Um,
the only copy I have here, the attorney did not come. He was sent the invitation. [Music] 30. Hallelujah. question. Yeah. and see.
Good evening and welcome to the public safety committee meeting. It is Wednesday, September 10th. It is now 6:28. voting members present in the chamber. I have to my left the uh city council at
large Anna Levy on Zoom we have the vice chair of the committee councelor Selena Reyes and I believe and we also have councelor Gregory de Rosario. Pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2022 this meeting of the public safety committee is being conducted both in
person and via remote participation. A reminder that persons who would like to listen or view this meeting while in progress may either attend here in the city council chamber or use any of our social media platforms. At this point, can you please join me in a moment of
silence for the horrific incident that happened in our nation today and also in the pledge. Now join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I do want to say before we get started with the agenda um what occurred the act of violence that occurred in our country today
is unacceptable. Doesn't matter your political beliefs doesn't matter what party you are a part of. Violence is never the answer. And I believe um it is okay to have
different views. It is okay to live freely, but it's not okay to to result to violence. And that is all I'm going to say about that. Um, okay.
Counselors, can I have a motion to unte item 232-25, audit of the Lawrence Police Department for fiscal year 2025? So move. Move. Motion. Second. Motion has been made by councelor Levy, seconded by councelor
Del Rosario. Um, roll call. Councelor Levy, yes. Council Reyes, yes. Council de Rosario, yes. And the chair votes in the affirmative. Councilors, last time we tabled this item, um,
councelor Reyes and councelor Levy had asked councelor Luzon to provide a a copy of the statement that she presented to us, which she did and we have it here um, printed out and it was also emailed
to us for the counselors that are on Zoom. We also requested for the police chief to be here. He is here. The city attorney was requested to be here as well. He is not here. I attempted to call him three times and sent him a text
and I haven't heard back. But we do have I'm going to bring up councelor Luzon first before we get to the chief. Um just to quickly reintroduce this item. Good evening. Uh Wendy Lon, 11 Albian Street. Councelor Wendy Lson
11 Albian Street. Yeah. Once. Uh so um I think I mentioned at the first meeting the importance of uh requesting this audit. Um based on the amount of of chief that we had at the police
department in less than four years, we had five. And I think it's important to the community to know uh about the finances and other details about uh from
the police department and I believe we are all in an agreement. I also mentioned that I had a conversation with Mayor Brian Deñena um months years ago and he agreed to it and we also have here uh Chief Aguular.
So you can ask him if this is important or this is something that we can postpone. But I think it's important for the community to know what has been happening at the police station for the last uh four years based on the amount
of chief that we had had at the police uh the Lawrence police department. Thank you councelor Lzone. I'm also going to read the the email that you sent for the record. Thank you. And um I'll provide you a copy, my copy, so that you don't have to
write everything. You're welcome. Dear members of the public safety committee, I am writing to formally request that this committee take the necessary steps to initiate an independent audit of the Lawrence Police Department. This request is made not as criticism, but as an
opportunity to strengthen accountability, transparency, and trust between the department and the residents we serve. An audit will will allow us to ensure financial accountability by reviewing the use of taxpayer dollars over overtime expenditures and grant
management. Second, allow us evaluate operation efficiency to determine whether staffing, patrol deployments, and case management are meeting the needs of our community. Third, verify compliance with
state and federal standards on issues such as civil civil rights protections, use use of force policies and recordkeeping. Fourth, increase transparency and trust by addressing community concerns and demonstrating
that public safety resources are managed responsibly. And lastly, provide a roadmap for improvement to help the department identify areas of strengths and areas that may require additional training, resources, or policy adjustments. Our residents deserve a
police department that is effective, efficient, and accountable. An independent audit will both will give both the council and the public a clear objective picture of the department's operations and finances while also guiding future improvements that can make alarms safer and stronger. I
respectfully ask the committee on public safety to take this matter under serious consideration and place it on the agenda for a formal discussion and action. Thank you for your attention, your commitment to safety and well-being of our city. Sincerely, Councelor Wendy Luzon. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Yes. And and and to add to that is is just um if we as a council if you send this to the full council as a favor of recommendation, we will have the opportunity to discuss and to hear from
other council members and but the idea is to make sure that relationship between uh also is to make sure that relationship between the police department and the community is based on trust. And to do that, I think is is is
necessary to order an independent audit. Uh so the can the police department under this new administration, under this new chief uh can uh present uh what
had happened and where they are going. And thank you for reading the letter, the email that I sent. Um, and I wish I hope that this committee can send this as a favor recommendation to the full council for review. Thank you. And I apologize to the
counselors that were here during that were with us last meeting, but we we did have um one of our members that couldn't make it and the police chief was not here last meeting. So, I I thought it was appropriate to read the the letter even though you did read it last minute
to to the three counselors that were here. But no, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for doing that. Is on is on the same page. Thank you. Before I call up the police chief to get his um and allow questioning from a police standpoint, I do want to allow uh the opportunity for
my colleagues uh to ask any questions that they may have thought of afterwards or may have thought of right now as I read as I we reheard the um the counselor statements before I called up the police chief
here. Councelor de Rosario. Yeah. I wasn't I wasn't present in the last meeting and I don't know if this was discussed. Uh but a question to councelor Luzon. Um do we
know how much this going to cost and if we in agreement on sending to the audit where the money is going to come out to pay for the audit? U thank you councelor de Rosario. My understanding that the mayor, Major Depa agreed and in a in a formal conversation
what we had, he agreed to pay for um that was so we went over that question in the first meeting I think I believe so council chair yes do I still have the floor do we have anything in writing for mayor pñena that's going to pay for it um and I'm
assuming that this got to go to procurement and do a procurement process to see who's going to do the audit uh we do not have uh his answer in writ but I also know that he communicated the same thing to the chief uh Aguiler and
uh I don't know the exact amount that uh that this will cost I will definitely we can send an email and request the amount but I think the amount of money is insignificant
uh and I know that Uh we have to be careful with how much money we spend, how much tax payer dollars we spend, but I think the result um uh will
make sense will will uh be wealthy uh knowing what had happened with the police department for the last four years. And also that will give an opportunity to this administration to tell the community that everything is where it's supposed to be and if
something is not where it's supposed to be uh to inform the community their plan to make it better. So, and I would like to add, councelor de Rosario, um, our secretary sent an email on
September 4th to the city attorney, to our acting caff, the police chief, and the mayor um, re requesting well notifying them that this committee was requesting their their presence for
tonight's meeting. And we have our cafo here. We have the chief here. The other two city members are not currently present. Beer can actually um
Okay. I actually going to ask the the acting caffe roughly how much would an audit like this cost? Just an estimate if you have an estimate. If not, that's okay. Good evening council is for Mona Sabalos
acting caffo. So um I did bring our current um auditors that they will be here later on and um it's hard to tell without knowing the exact scope of work that we desire to have. Is it going to be
based on a specific area of the police department? Is it just financial? I mean, I did uh uh hear the letter that was written and I think we need to meet with um the auditors and explain to them exactly what is it that we want, the
scope of work, what's expected, what's the goal, and then based on that meeting, then they will provide us with a quote because it's all based on the hourly rate, how many hours is estimated based on the the work that they're going to do. Correct. Okay. Thank you.
You're welcome. I'm now before any other questions or comments. Yes. One more. One more for the C the Rosario. So Cal according to what you say. So we already have determined who is going to do the audit. No no no.
Oh we have no uh we have our current external auditors that will actually be presenting in our next meeting budget and finance. So I did ask them to just come in case there was specific questions about audits that they can help with. So we do not have an auditor.
We just have our current external auditors that do our financial audit audit every year. So I just um they were kind enough to come and just be here in case there were more questions that uh they will be more suitable to answer.
Okay. Thank you. Councelor Levy, are you done? Council the Rosario. Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Yes. One of the reason why I send it or we table this was because we
need to know the amount that is going to cost to have an AR because I remember when the school committee for $10,000 everything was thrown out that was torn down that they cannot come out the city was not able to come out
with $10,000 to make it the uh the art for the school committee. So probably we would like to know you know how much it's going to cost because we don't want to spend the time in in doing everything. Uh I know that the mayor is
in agree to do this but we would like to know you know for the taxpayer how much it's going to cost definitely uh to do this. That is one of the reason why we as ino we would like to know because that at that time uh the city
attorney was the one that came that said that was we were not able to have it uh something like this because the money is from we need to know from where the money is going to come out how much is going to cost and what is the proceeding
and legally in all of this point well taken yes thank you thank Thank you uh councelor uh Levy for uh saying uh that again because we went over that in the first meeting. But I
also think that um if we send this to the if you you the committee send this to the full committee either it uh could be sent as a committee report or so or a favor recommendation whatever the committee chooses to do. Uh it will give
an opportunity to all the counselors to uh uh express their opinion uh and and um and maybe we can request that information and you know in the process.
uh but uh informing the community about uh the finances and other issues that I mentioned in the letter of the police department is also our responsibility as counselors. Uh we had had as I mentioned
at the beginning uh five different uh administration. When I say administration chief five different chief and uh putting the house in order also means reviewing their finances and
letting the uh taxpayer know that the money is is where it's supposed to be and if something is not where it's supposed to be, we need to tell them how we going to fix it. uh that is also uh
our job as city councilors I to uh propose that uh to and it's going to be up to the council to the full council to decide if they agree or not. Thank you. Um councelor Lzone at at this
time I'm I'm going to give you a break. Thank you. Bring up the our police chief. Um um yes c sorry chief one more question for the cap councelor Levy thank you mad chief
uh my question is roimly how much is the cost for the audit to the city I'm sorry how much is the cost right now for the our current audit yes um so let's use the financial audit as an example what was the the rate for
we have a three-year contract with our current firm and it's a $390,000 um contract for three years. 390,000 per year or for the three years for the three years. So practically it's a 30 30 something.
Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Um now chief one last comment before we put the chief. One last comment. Council de Rosario. Um, even though I'm I'm fully in agreement, I just want my colleague to
understand that depends on the price of the audit. We got to do a procurement process and we got to go out to bit if I'm if I'm not mistaken. If if if the cafo think that I'm mistaken, uh, that's okay. We might have we might have to go
out to bit. And I just wish that if we're in agreement to do these audit and the company that win this bid, we don't complain about which company is going to do the audit. That's what I hoping for. So just keep that in mind that depends on the price, we might have to go out
and bid and the city going to choose and whoever shoes it, whoever is going to do the audit might not be the company that we want. And I don't want this to become a fiasco after that the mayor or whoever picked the company that didn't didn't supposed to pick. But that's the
process. So just let's go with that this item with that in mind. That depends on the price. We got to go out and bid for it. Councelor de Rosario. So we actually I'm under the impression that we don't have to go out to bid for this and the capo just stood up again and she's going to
explain the reason why. Kapo. Yes. So accounting services such as this uh does not require to go out to bid. Okay. So that's fine. Okay. So we we will use the company that we have right now. So correct with the Yep. We can. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the
clarification. Thank you councelor Reyes. Is this a financial question? Um no just a comment uh to you madam chair. Uh I want to to uh to do the comment to my colleague. We
love to sing every every single item but through our committee we had the responsibility to make question uh to do the research. It's not mean we don't want to do the outit or not. It's the intention to know
what is the next step to follow the process. I want to be clear in that part because through the comment I feel like we don't want to send in the the item. We love to send the item but we want to ask him
where where the the funding come uh especially I try to figure out if we receive some communication with the Mr. couldn't and also from the mayor office but I don't see any communication to
taking any uh responsibility with the cost so I want to do this kind of comment thank you thank you chief yes good evening to all good evening u chief Aguilar I would
like to know for for the committee's um knowledge What would in your as in your point of view as as a as an officer and as the chief of the department, what would this mean for you in the
department and how could this be either beneficial or not overall? Certainly. Um, Madam Chair, I first and foremost, I I welcome uh the opportunity to honor uh the mayor's uh wishes and
the council's wishes uh to uh conduct an audit of the police department. I think that um an audit of the police department is not only uh appropriate where we've had so much transition uh regarding the leadership of Lawrence Police Department in such a short time
span, but I think it's consistent with best practices. Um, by and large when new chiefs come in, they'll conduct an audit. Uh, I'll give you an example. I'm also, um, requesting an audit. We going to be we're be paying for this one, but the audit of of my evidence room. Um,
and so, uh, those are good for for for several reasons. Um, I think that, um, you know, you have already spoken to to the to the points about accountability and and transparency. Um, in order to ensure that the department's financial practices are transparent and
accountable, I want to be completely uh accountable and completely transparent uh with with you with the community. I think that we deserve it. But not only that, it's best practice. Um, I think that an audit would help us identify inefficiencies as to how uh we have been
operating. Um, the information that we glean from an audit can help the department streamline operations and make better use of our resources. We can establish how our resources have been used um and whether or not those have been the most beneficial and effective
use of our our time, money, resources, what have you. Um, you know, in order to serve the community, um, I think that financial responsibility and accountable will establish trust with the community, council, the mayor's office, everyone. And um it's going to like I said provide
insights to us into best management practices and highlight our strengths. And it's also going to expose what our needs for improvement are going forward. Um I think that the audit will help us develop strategic plans that are going to align with community needs and the
community's priorities. Um it'll help us make better decisions as to future resource allocation decisions. um and uh it's going to identify you know training needs for our staff for myself as well regarding budgeting and financial management how it's been done
and how we can do it better uh moving forward. So I think it's it's it's something that is sound in order to reset what we're doing to find out exactly which way we're going to go with this and uh establish a practice that's going to survive uh you know changes of
leadership and the like. So there are a lot of benefits to that and I think that when you compare and I certainly understand that there has to be an understanding of the overall cost of that. I don't know what that cost is going to be or who's going to allocate uh you know how that's going to be paid
for. But I can tell you that um it would be beneficial for us to start a fresh to start a new and uh costbenefit analysis of that. it's more beneficial to all of us and get a better understanding of our finances than it is uh you know not
okay thank you any questions for the chief counselor Levy thank you centair um do you know when was the last out if any of the Lawren police department
I do not madam counselor I do not it has been quite some time to Can you answer it? No. So, practically practically we have never ever had an audit to the police department to the
Lawrence Police Department. I'm not aware of any contemporary or uh audits that have been conducted within Lawrence Police Department. Um not during my time either as the executive officer under Chief Roy Basque and I know he was in office approximately five years or so. Um nor under Chief
Fitzpatrick. I mean uh we could well be looking into almost a decade if I to my knowledge. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So this is I I believe the best next steps is to
table this item again. Kappo, I'm going to I guess give you the the responsibility the task of setting a meeting or communicating with the mayor, the the city attorney and councelor
Luzon, getting everyone at the table and looking at what exactly is feasible if this audit should go through. Should it be done in parts? Does that feasib does that fiscally make more sense or is is
is there do we have the funds in some somewhere within our budget that we can conduct a full audit on the police department? No, no, they're doing their separate they're doing a separate audit. Yeah, they're doing a separate audit but this in particular
council de Rosario. Uh thank you through your chat. We also need to be specific of what type of audit are we going to do. Is it a financial audit? Is it a full audit? Because we talking about audit, but nobody has to specify what type of audit. Um, according to the, you know, the chief wants to have the housing
order. Um, and we haven't done an audit for the police department and and who knows when, what's the last time they did an audit. So we got to be specific in that when we got in the specific of what we looking for in the audit, that's when we're going to get the regular price or or the accurate price it it it
cost the the audit will cost. Thank you. Thank you. And actually the letter Capital there's some examples here. So we have listed overtime expenditures, grant management, staffing, patrol
deployment, case management, uh compliance within state federal on state federal issues such as civil rights protections, use of force policies, recordkeeping. So, I think that's a great foundational start to
determine what areas we we we can um audit if we move forward with this item. We can do everything or if we can just do a whole generic um audit with a little bit of everything. But that is something I'm going to task you with. Get everybody at the
Can I have a copy of that? Yes. Yes. Yes. I'll actually Can you give this to the capital, please? She can have my copy. I have the email. Thank you. All right, councelor Luzon. I I think you stepped out. Yeah, you did step step out when I was speaking this.
What we're going to do is I'm going to have the committee table this item. The capo will be reaching out to you, the city attorney and mayor Deena to schedule a sitdown. Okay. So we can all get the first part done and it's to determine whether we
should do this by parts and if we do it by parts which areas within the police department will be audited or if if we do have the funds to conduct uh a general overall audit on the on the on the police department. I'm sorry. Can you include the chief? I don't know if
the chief has to be in that too but I think he should include the chief. Yeah. You're welcome. Oh, any other counselor that would like to be part of the conversation? Um, we are open.
I can be part of it. Thank you, Councelor Le. Okay. I just know I would rather Yeah, that's fine. I would rather get this done now the committee level if we were to send this item up. I I I can already
predict councelor L plant um perhaps councelor president asking about specifically about funds. Okay. So I want to make sure we have those answers before we sign it up. Thank you madam chair. Thank you committee. Can I have a motion to table item
232-25? Motion to table. A motion has has been made. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by councelor de Rosario. Uh roll call. Councelor Levy, yes. Councelor Reyes, yes.
Councilor De Rosario, yes. And the chair votes in the affirmative. Chief, now that I have you here, there was a communication sent on uh August 20th. it was pertaining to
this item and I it it worked out because you you couldn't attend that meeting but it's here highlighted that we have a tabled item the Lawrence Trust Act that the council president is requesting and an an update that's we're supposed to be
updated on it every six months. Obviously the committee has not met um recently until now. So I am going to request for you to come prepared. But I am going to schedule another uh public safety meeting during the next full
council meeting and I'm going to ask you to be prepared to come back and give an update on the Lawrence Trust Act. Thank you, Madam Chair. And so uh specifically to speak on what particular issue regarding the trust act.
So that's an excellent question. All right. I'm gonna find out. Yeah. But what I'm assuming is an overall update, but if there's any specific items um areas, I will I will let you know. Please. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay, counselors, at this point, we have no other items to discuss. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Motion has been made. Is there a second? Seconded by councelor Reyes. Um roll
call. Councelor Levy, yes. Council Reyes, yes. Council de Rosario, yes. And the chair votes in the affirmative. Thank you so much. We will see you in two weeks.
Bye-bye. [Music] [Music] The electricity. Yes, ma'am. Could you do you say you say whatever Let me start this. We would just test, you know, it's a test run to see if you
guys were actually the c the cappo will help out with that. All right. Good evening and welcome to the budget and finance committee meeting. It is Wednesday, September 10th. It is now
7:08 p.m. Voting members currently present, I have to my left the vice chair of the committee, councelor Vivian Marmal, and to my right, councelor Wendy Luzon. Pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2022, this meeting of the budget and
finance committee is being conducted both in person and via remote participation. A reminder that persons who would like to listen or view this meeting while in progress may either attend here in the city at the city council chambers or use any of our social media platforms.
At this point, I know some of you have already done this, but please join me in a moment of silence for um the tragedy that occurred in our country today. And now, join me in the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And again, I know some of you have already heard this, but I'm just going to repeat it for this
committee session. Violence should never be the answer for differences in opinion or differences in political views. No family should go through what occurred in our country today.
Thank you. Um now counselors, we're going to get into we're going to go right through the agenda. We have minutes to approve from our meeting of August 25, 2025. Can I have a motion for the minutes? Motion to approve. Motion has been made by council marmal.
Is there a second? Second. Seconded by councelor Luzon. Discussion on the minutes. Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. I. And the eyes have it. Council, can I have a motion to unte
item? Where is it? It's been a while. Okay. To unte item 169-25, submission of the annual audit report to the city council. This includes fiscal year 2024 financial statements and
fiscal year 2024 reports on federal award programs. Motion to unt. Motion has been made by council mar. Is there a second? Seconded by councelor Luzon. All those in favor say I. I. I. And the eyes have it. We have our
acting capital here with us and we have our auditors. Thank you for your patience. Um I I'm going to take the fault for this. This this one slipped through the cracks a little bit. We had the budget and the audit at the same time and at that time was just a little hectic. So I apologize
for that. But we are here now. Caro, can you introduce the what we have in front of us and then we'll just keep moving. Keep it roll. Good evening counselors. Ramona Savalos acting caffo. Um you are probably familiar with P and Sullivan. That is
the uh the last company that presented to us. Um P and Sullivan was acquired by Markham LLP and then Markhamm LLP was acquired by now CBIS. That's the new audit firm that we have. Uh tonight we
have our managing director Craig Peacock and our director Jessica Green. and they will uh review the uh financial statements and any questions you guys may have. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening.
Thank you all for having us and for your time tonight. Um my name is Craig Peacock. Uh I'm the managing director on the audit and um as your cap mentioned um many of you are
probably used to uh seeing Jim Powers over the years and um he has since luckily retired or or he's lucky to have retired, let's say it that way. Um and then mentioned you know with Jess
Jessica Green is our director on the audit and Mike Peleriti is our supervisor on the audit. Um we've gone it's it's been a whirlwind year as as you mentioned that you all were a little bit busy as well. We we were as well. So
realistically with all due respect the timing kind of worked out well for us also. Um we merged and became Markham back in February of 24 and by November 1st of 24 we had now merged in and
become CBiz which we are now. Uh so it's been a sort of a whirlwind year for us as well of learning a lot of new processes and ways of doing things and that type of thing. Um, what I would like to say is for the city of Lawrence,
uh, in particular, a large city, a lot going on, uh, with the new firm, uh, we have a lot of various divisions, a lot of different types of of, um, uh, procedures and and, uh, policies that,
you know, we can work with the city for any uh, different reviews. you were just speaking of. Um, from soup to nuts, from large to small, we we have a lot of resources now as a we're a large firm now. We've gone from 30 members to about
12,000. So, it's it's changed quite a bit. Um, and so we like to think that that's a real plus for our client base because it's sort of a one-stop shop at this point. Um, so we're we're excited for that.
uh the the audit schedule this year was was very similar uh as years passed. Typically the audit team would get started in you know the June July time frame uh looking at um maybe some of the
the federal grants that need to be audited for the for the city's single audit uh which which encompasses we'll we'll get to and talk about but that just encompasses all the federal dollars uh that the city has has expended in the you know in the particular fiscal year
under audit. Um year end has typically been in the September October time frame and then you know work to kind of close it down from there. As I said uh with the double mergers we were also implementing a lot
of new procedures and learning some new ways of doing things. So it was a little bit slower for us this year. However, I like to think that our learning curve is is really playing off now. uh we've learned a lot and I think it's also
elevated the the audit um skills if you will of of all of our teams because now we've merged with a number of other firms together and we all get to share best practices and and
that type of thing. Um during prelim I mentioned you know we look at at the single audit there are things like um we'll do some work with the retirement system uh planning kind
of kind of getting ourselves keyed up and ready for once the city closes their books and we're ready to jump in and start the audit. uh at that point where you know looking at has cash been reconciled has receivables all all of
the balance sheet items of of the city um what I'm going to do now is just give some required communications that uh we're supposed to you know let everybody know type of thing as as auditors where
our main goal in the audit is to be able to appine on the city's financial statements and the single audit in accordance with uniform guidance uh of which that's what we're here to discuss. And um the audit is generally performed
in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards uh and government auditing standards. Um so we don't have that's not our decision. That's that's Gazsby and uh GAP. how you know how the
audits are determined and and performed. Um management has a big role because really these are management's reports, management's financial statements. So not only is management being looked at,
our policies and procedures in place is cash reconciled timely? Are are the the books and records clean? our departments reconciling with, you know, the the main
general ledger and or your treasury, that type of thing. Is that all occurring? We'll get to it, but I'm happy to say that we did not note any major um discrepancies whatsoever going through the audit, which was great. um
our responsibilities as far as the audit goes. Again, I mentioned to express an opinion on the financials and the uniform guidance, but in order to do so, uh, we first need to obtain an an understanding of the internal control
structure of the city, policies and procedures in place that allow us to plan the audit and determine the extent of procedures that need to be done in order for us to support that opinion on the on the reports. Uh we also have to
bring to yourselves those charged with governance whether there are any what we would call material weaknesses or significant deficiencies uh of which I'm happy to say there are none uh noted in the fiscal 24 audit and
um also we did not encounter any difficulties in working with management of any department in order to obtain the information that we need to review and look at to be able to substantiate the general ledger and the balances for the
city andor appine on the financials and um remaining independent is extremely important for an audit firm. We cannot have uh for instance you know my brother
can't sit on the the council or something of that nature. There has to be complete independence uh in fact and appearance of which we have to go through a number of checklists to confirm that and I'm happy to say that we were able and we are
completely independent of the city and we also look to see has the city changed or adopted any new accounting policies or procedures in the current fiscal year and this time we're speaking of fiscal
24. Um we didn't notice any changes in existing policies. However, um Gazsby 100 it's um error corrections and changes in accounting was implemented during fiscal
24. And really all that did was um not not to drill too much into the weeds. I'm going to try to stay high level, but then I'll answer any questions that might come up. But just a real quick example is when you look at your financials, you always have your general fund and then there's different columns
that that come up. Those are referred to as major funds. And uh sometimes depending on the criteria, a major fund will change. And Gazsby 100 this year was implemented which gave us a new sort of format that we had to the way it had
to be reported within the financials. It honestly probably doesn't really mean a whole lot to you all. It doesn't change bottom lines. It doesn't change the numbers. It maybe just puts some money from your left pocket to your right pocket within the financial statements. Um, again, not
departments, not what the monies are there for or anything. It's just strictly accounting for your financial statements. Overall results of the audit is the city received an unmodified opinion on your financial statements which is the best
that you can get. That is what you would want. Uh no no qualifications at all. Uh we were able to meet the reporting deadline uh with the federal audit clearing house in relation to the city's single audit. Again, that's the report
on the expenditure of federal dollars that was due by March 31st of which uh it was filed on time. I'm happy to say that working with all the different departments this year, the information that we received was both
accurate and timely. And I I sometimes like to say as an example uh I've gone into clients before and you know asked a question let's just use Treasury an example can you get me this bank reconciliation
and in a perfect world these reconciliations are occurring every month and if the particular um treasurer takes three or four days to answer mine our team's question. Well, our professional
skepticism antenna go up and they say, "Are these or we would say, are these reconciliations really occurring timely?" Because I think someone's at home for the next three nights trying to pull it all together for us. But I'm happy to say that answers that we we
needed information to support the balances was provided timely and it was accurately supported. Any questions we did have were addressed real time. and we were able to to obtain the necessary supporting documentation that we needed
to appine on the city's financials. So that's that's all good stuff. I mentioned that there are no material weaknesses and significant deficiencies. So for in fiscal 24 now that we've merged into CBiz as powers and Sullivan,
you're always going to have your financial statements and these the schedule expenditures of federal awards. We used to always put a written management letter and sometimes the management letter would be what I would refer to as maybe some housekeeping
issues, issues that are not required under auditing standards to be put in writing. They can be discussed with the finance team and that type of thing. The only items that are required to be put in writing are material weaknesses and significant deficiencies. So the new
firm's policies are that we typically do not issue a written management letter unless we have some of those major um material weakness or significant deficiencies again of which we had none.
So for 24, we've issued both the city's uh report on financial statements and the schedule of expenditures of federal awards, both of which received an unmodified opinion. Uh again, which is what the city would want. Uh some
highlights this year in the general fund obviously is the the main fund of the city. Uh the the general fund's budget uh had a deficit of about $38 million this year. However, about $48 million of
available funds, free cash was used to balance the budget. But because of strong collections and your department's ability to control their costs and have some turnbacks after encumbrances and such moving into fiscal 25,
you only realistically needed to go into your coffers for about 38 million. Another 10 million was able to be saved because of strong collections andor the ability to control those costs. Uh so that's a positive. Um, general fund
unassigned fund balance. Unassigned fund balance is essentially a measure of dollars within the general fund that the city can spend and appropriate. There are some other categories that might
refer that might relate to, excuse me, uh, incumbrances and articles that are being carried forward. So, they're already sort of earmarked for something. uh as well as the city has uh the fiscal stability fund that's you know been carrying for a bit. Uh so those funds
are sort of earmarked for now until either they're turned back or what. But so the unassigned fund balance really is a measure of what the city has available to appropriate uh at any particular time. And uh this year uh it totals
about 62.9 million which is down by about 1.3 from the prior year. And again a lot of that has to do with the movement of the different buckets as I mentioned there's incumbrances and that type of
thing as well as the fact that we utilized about $38 million worth of available funds to balance the budget. So that that that's the general fund budget. So it directly impacts the general fund. Um
in unassigned fund balance, it's also important to note that there is something that we refer to as Gazsby 54 that kind of dictates where and how different balances and buckets of funds get reported. um the city's stabilization funds of
which there is a legal service, a compensated absence, workers comp and injured in the line of duty stabilization funds. Those are reported as unassigned as part of that 62.9 million. So if we were to add those
various funds up, I'm going to ballpark it at a million4. So that would, you know, uh, leave you about $61.5 million of unassigned, uh, fund balance, uh, within the general fund that can be utilized, of which that
represents about 14.1% of your general fund expenditures, down a little from 23 where it represented 15.6. But again, each year budgets usually don't go down, so expenditures rise. So
hence conversely the the percentage thereof decreases a bit year after year. Uh but really those are those are pretty healthy numbers from what we see. Um the city has uh three main enterprise
funds of which water and sewer experienced an increase of $4.1 million this year. uh we saw a pretty large increase in charges for services uh the usage of water and hence the sewer related to
that. Uh and also we saw that the water and sewer fund had they control they were able to control their cost. They did not spend the entire budget. um uh they utilized funds in you know obviously all the important areas
salaries and repairs and you know everything that was needed uh but it did not it they did not expend every dollar that was appropriated. So, from having a little bit of what we'll call turnbacks there and great collections on the the usage of water uh and that type of
thing, um you essentially went up about 4 uh $1 million in net position in your enter in water and sewer. Airport uh fund increased about $5.1 million and that's basically because the city
received a grant of uh about 5.8 8 million towards a runway project at the airport of which it had only gotten started. So only some was spent. So currently, you know, next year uh depending on the timing of the program,
if all of that is spent down, you may see a little bit of a decrease or a break even depending on the actual operating budget. Um and lastly is parking. parking um enterprise fund went down about a million five this year and
that was mostly due to the net op liability and the net pension liability acrruels increasing in the parking fund. Um so that's what that's that's essentially what caused the decrease in
in that fund there. some significant balance sheet items that we always look at and I I don't want to um bore you all with all the numbers, but two of the big elephants in the room typically over the years are the net OP liability and the net pension
liability. Uh this year, as of June 3024, the city has a net OPED liability of $315 million, which is down $34 million from fiscal 23. Some of the
major attributes that went into that are valuations for OPE are done every two years. So when this particular valuation was done, the the um excuse me, the interest rates were up a little bit and what the actuaries have to do is look to
see what type of assets do we have in our oped trust fund. Uh of which this year the city contributed another million dollars to that fund. Brings the total to about 2.6 million which is a wonderful start. We have clearly we have
some clients that have more, but we have a whole lot of clients that have less. Um, so that's a great start, but because the total liability is 315 million, I think it's fair to say that 2.6
currently will not cover those expenditures, you know, for years to come as as all your retirees and your current uh employees retire and that type of thing. OPE is a rolling number based on uh current employees earning
the benefit and retirees receiving those benefits that they earned. Um but the actuary was able to, you know, the 20-year bond rate went up a bit to about 4.21%. So they were able to utilize that which
was able to make a big a big change in the liability. uh again. So that went down 34 million. Uh the next one we mentioned was the net pension liability. Uh the city's retirement system is
reported as a fiduciary component unit within the city's financial statements. That's very consistent uh one from year to year as well as all other communities that have their own retirement system within the state of Massachusetts.
And um that liability this year was $190.7 million, which was an increase of about $823,000 from the previous year. Uh however, um
when you look year to year, your net pension liability is trending downward. And what happens is a big big factor in the the what we're calling the net pension liability is the the asset base of your retirement
system. And you know some years they have great investment uh performance. Other years not so good. And if I may make one clarification your finan the city's financial statements are reported as of June 30 uh
this year of 24. The retirement system is a calendar year. So there in these financials as of 123123. So we for a retirement system we always have to look at the investment performance within that calendar period
as opposed to a fiscal year. And for last year's financial statements calendar 22 was not the greatest investment year for for anybody retirement systems in this case. However, for calendar 23, they really
had a great year. Uh, your pension system made, if I remember correctly, about $34 million worth of investment income. Uh, which really helped to offset the increase. Uh, because the net pension liability continually is going to go up pretty much each year as the
actuary um, uh, produces those figures. again depending on the assumptions the interest rate what's going on in the markets but quite frankly with a base of employees new and old I don't I don't
mean by age I mean current and former uh might be better better language the net pension liability you know you're going to be there's benefits to be paid for years to come so that that liability is continually moving off and upwards but
it is the base of assets from the retirement system that helps quite a bit. Uh so again, this was a great year for investment income and currently this the system the city system is is 61.4% funded. Uh which again that's better
than many of our clients. Yes, I think we can all come up with a few uh communities within the state of Massachusetts that may be funded a little bit more. uh they're probably in and around the city of Boston, that type of thing, some of the the more affluent
communities, but other than that, at 61%, I think you guys are doing great. Realistically, um long-term debt, another large liability within your financial statements. Uh there's about we'll call it about $250
million worth of long-term debt in there now, which is broken out between the governmental funds and your various uh business type funds. But however, just the water and sewer uh business type enterprise fund has some debt. uh the
governmental funds. And again, just as a a quick note, the city will bond and go out for debt issuances for various to help fund various capital projects. Um on the governmental side, there's about
$174 million outstanding at June 30th. And on the uh water and sewer business type side, there's about $75 million. And those include capitalized premiums uh that that are sometimes received through the debt issuance that are then
used to pay down uh either some of the project or interest costs related to the debt uh as we move forward. And what page what page can we see the um the long-term debt? You can see that on Excuse me. I just
didn't note it here. Oh, what was it? 52. 52. Thank you. I have it right here, but just was quicker than I. So, on page 52, you'll see that on 52 itself, it relates
to governmental funds. And it comes down to approximately 167 million worth of actual long-term bonds and another 6.8 8 million of unaveratized premium for the total of $174 million there.
And if you flip to page 53, you'll see the water and sewer enterprise fund uh of which uh they have between the um Mass Clean Water Trust as well as some general obligation bonds uh 75.8 8,
we'll call it $76 million worth of long-term debt outstanding as of June 30th. are currently um also another on the asset side, one of the largest assets um that go on to the balance sheets and such are the
capital assets of the city. It includes your buildings, your, you know, schools, vehicles, machinery, equipment, all the DPW equipment, that type of stuff. We saw approximately $93 million worth of new additions this year, of which a
large portion of that related to some new school building projects, uh, renovations and such of other city buildings, machinery and equipment purchases, as well as some water and sewer infrastructure projects is what made up most of most of those dollars
that were capitalized. Um, that's the two. So we can move on to the report on federal award programs. That was sort of the high level of the financials. I can either go through the report on federal awards now or if
anybody had any specific questions on the financials, I'd be more than happy to address those. Let's let's entertain questions on the financial reports. Okay. Financial statements first. Counselor, do you have any comments or questions pertaining to the financial statements
in front of us? I'm looking at the council president because he always has a question. No, you're good. Really? Okay. Madan, yes, I do have a question. Uh,
so you mentioned free cash. Yes. Isn't the decrease of free cash a signal of a financial problem? called base base we owe the cities we had spent
more than 60% of free cash. Uh is that a something that we should be worrying? Well, let me answer that in in a couple of ways. Just by itself, I would suggest
that free cash is there to be used. Um uh however, when the city works with their rating agencies and you're getting ready to issue maybe some general obligation bonds or have your free cash certified,
Moody's S&P, they all know that any community that we're speaking of, and in this case, the city of Lawrence, you're going to have to go into your pockets at some time and utilize some of that free cash for projects, maybe one-time expenditures.
to assist in balancing the budget, that type of thing. What they're really looking for, because we all know, excuse me, we all know, even personally, uh, we hope to be able to establish an emergency fund should my furnace break or something of that nature. I know I'm
going to have to utilize those funds. What the rating agencies are look are really looking for is does management have a plan to replenish those funds? They expect that they will be used at some point in time, but they want to
know when you sit down and and talk each year or uh and they're looking to reaffirm your bond rating. Um uh review your balance sheet and come up with your free cash and that type of thing. They want
to understand does management have a plan and not just related to free cash, but are you as a city budgeting properly, paying attention to what's going on within the
city, utilizing funds when needed, not always using free cash for ongoing expenditures, uh hiring 40 new teachers or 40 new, you know, I'm Just kind of making up
examples here. Something that would be unsustainable when that free cash is gone and now the city has to look for ways to to fund the budget essentially. So often times they'll look at free cash usage um a little more favorably for
maybe a capital project uh andor some what we'll call more one-time expenditure type um programs. um they may look at it a little bit more unfavorably if it's being used to try to
sustain and or increase your budget for things that really there's not going to be any funding there for in the future. But again, should what your financial advisor and those that are meeting with you to discuss the finances of the city are really looking
for is how are we budgeting? How are we? What are our expectations? How is our budget look? Are our revenues currently enough to support our expenditure levels? Um so
that we know between turnbacks and so on and so forth, the free cash will be continually replenished each year. that that's they just want to see that you're able as a city to properly work as a finance team and that management can
have a a a policies and procedures in place and ideas on how to utilize the free cash, but how to also replenish it later on. They they don't want to see you get to zero and have the inability to to
replenish. U [Music] I always get the microphone that is on. Um now it's time. So based on what you just uh share,
can can you for the people that are watching how many millions we spent in free cash this year based on your um I apologize. Might I say that back just to make sure I understood the question. Share how many millions we the city
spent this year. U about 38 million was spent this year. So compare if we compare that to other cities we spend more free cash than any other city in Massachusetts. I don't know that I would say that. Um,
there are communities that are are not very high up on the bond rating and such because they don't have a plan to replenish and they're utilizing their free cash for anything and everything related to the budget. Um, so it's, you
know, it's it's hard to simply give an answer comparing the city of Lawrence to any andor all communities within the state of Massachusetts only because everything is is so different, but um I wouldn't suggest that that yes, 38 is a
large number. I I I won't take that away from you. I'm going to read something and you uh uh correct me if I'm wrong and if you don't have the answer, please uh let us know, but I'm going to read this. So, for fiscal year 2024,
Lawrence experienced a major decline in his certified free cash, dropping 20.5 millions, which is uh 63.6% compared to the previous year. And this
was the largest decrease amount in a Massachusetts uh community, Massachusetts community. So uh you may not have the answer for that because you were working on the city of Lawrence, but um if the couple can give us an
answer via email and I'm I mentioned this because I don't think you have the answer couple now because you work for the city of Lawrence. you have the answer. Okay, I think she has the answer.
Good evening again. Um, as you recall, we had $57 million from ARPA um that was allocated to free cash in two years. Um, those numbers significantly increased the amount of free cash that we had. Um,
our free cash averages about 156 million per year. During those two years, our free cash was astronomically bigger or higher, I should say, than any other year we've had because of the um the ARPA money that went through free cash.
And to talk about that $38 million that um our our auditor mentioned, um $20 million of that was transferred to the debt service to cover for the two schools and uh the new police station
because we did not um have an override. So the $20 million from free cash was transferred to a stabilization reserve for debt service to cover so we can pay for the debt service. And um as you recall, I brought that up when we were
talking about the the budget this year. Um also another $10 million was trans transferred from free cash for a reserve, stabilization reserve for the city, uh which is again something that the rating agencies look at to make sure
that we do have a reserve. So the $38 million wasn't money that was spent on anything um extraordinary. It was just money that was allocated for reserves. one the $20 million for debt service, another $10 million for the civilization reserve, and then there were other
projects that the council approved from free cash. One of them being $5 million for um site improvements because we don't have a um a formal C uh CIP because of all the debt that we have. So, uh some of the expenses for um
either road services, I mean road repair, sidewalks, and so forth for about $5 million was also transferred. So that is the um the total of the $38 million. Um so that decrease that you see from year to year is because um all
that money from ARPAC went to free cash which is about $42 million uh that went and then the following year went down to 15 or about $16 million which is more in line with what we actually have on a on a yearly basis. Uh, can we agree and
thank you for explaining that, but can can we agree that we are spending more free cash than any other city in Massachusetts? It looks like based on what you said, right? But we didn't really spend that money. We just transfer to a reserve
account to cover um the debt services. It's a lot of money that we have to pay for the two new schools and the police station. So to make sure that the city doesn't suffer and has to come up with that money in the regular operating budget, we put money aside to cover
those extraordinary expenses. We didn't have an override. We didn't have a a um um like a excess taxes being charged. Uh so we are using our savings account to cover for those expenses. And that is my
concern kafo that uh and thank you for explaining that but I just wanted to uh u thank you for the explanation but I wanted to for the people that are watching this meeting that we are spending or not we don't have let me rephrase we don't have
the same amount of free cash that we had uh let's say last year so that is a concern but again that I have those two years were very it's like one in a lifetime um opportunity that the city of Lawrence had. We were able and
at amongst most communities um a lot of people did not get as much ARPA money and it had to do with the revenue recognition that we had during the uh explosion. So, that was something that it was a a fortunate and a blessing
for the city of Lawrence to get all that money and thankfully so because we can use that money to cover for the uh extra expenses related to the debt service again for the two new schools in the police station. Other than that, I mean, we wouldn't be able to afford that. we would have had to do an override or uh use some of the
le excess levy capacity to cover that because as you see we have to pay an additional about $4 million a year on that service to cover for the the two schools and the police station. Thank you. I understand what you're saying, but I I know we we are in an agreement and at
some point and I appreciate your explanation. Uh but it it it sounds like if we are we know that we're not sustainable. We we know that as a city we are not sustainable. But I mean uh we
should be more careful with uh the free cash. Uh and correct me if I'm wrong. Uh we should be more careful with free cash. So that's a great point. I also think that that was a great answer. And if I
could add one thing, could I add one thing to that answer in utilizing the opera funds that the city had received there that was you know all the various co different type of grants that had come out since the co pandemic opera
funds essentially or all of the co grants had sort of a life that they they had to be spent down by a certain period in time. Uh so as we just heard, your last few years was sort of a a very
fruitful time for the city because you received a a large amount of opera funding. However, that those dollars, anything that was left had to be committed to a project by December of 24 and all of it has to be spent by
December 26. So regardless of of what projects or or or the ability to supplement the general fund budget for a while or because there was a a lot of areas that that those funds were eligible to be used for, they
they would have to have been expended within the next couple of years. Thank you for your Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you for your answer. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I'm going to take a pause before we get
into the next report. Okay. I want to get our city employees um home real quick. I'm looking at the the items. It should be fairly quickly. So, let me uh I'm going to ask for a motion to table this item again. Item 169-25.
Motion to table. Motion is to table. Is there a second? Second. Second by councelor Luzon. All those in favor say I. I. I. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. The eyes have it. All right. So, let's go. Thank you. Just give me give me like five minutes to get through.
Would you like me to to to sit? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Under We're going under new business. We have item 361-25. authorization to expend $122,938 with.771 from the Office of Planning and
Development grant funds from um the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for winter protocols and temporary placements of fire victim. And it was brought fire by our victims and it was brought to us by Alicia Miller, our uh mayor health task force office
and planning development representative. Good evening, councilors. Alicia Miller, coordinator, mayor's health task force. So the city of Lawrence is one of um the the communities the large so under the let me back up under the the department
of public health there is in the office of of local and regional health the Massachusetts largest communities health coalition and uh the city of Lawrence is one such member of that coalition. Um
there were some dis discretionary funds that were dispersed to those communities for um homeless homelessness related or housing related um costs. Uh that's what housing is one of those things that that
is common throughout all the communities on in that health co coalition. And so that's one thing they're focusing on this year. So that money um was set was set was allocated to the city of Lawrence and will be used by the office of planning and development um for the
winter protocol and uh to stabilize a few families of uh that are victims of fire in the community for this year this fiscal year. Alicia, I have a question in terms of the planning for
for the cold months and temporary placements, you know, anything in emergencies that happen during the cold months. Do we have a better, I guess, plan or system in place for the upcoming months? Because sometimes I feel like we know
when extreme cold weather is coming and it takes the city the same day to come up with a plan or to even give us information on what the city's going to do during that night or you know that week or whatever. Is there a better strategy this time
around? So we hopefully with this funding yes there is. Um we've uh because of funding issues we've um sometimes we find it difficult to to get the protocol started when when it gets cold. Um and and we we
have had to look at what are what's in place and come up with something that's that's reasonable and that we can fund. Um this funding allows for us to be able to start that process hopefully a little bit earlier. Um and and I wish I could
say more about it. is not it's not under my jurisdiction, but I will give you what I do know. Um the winter protocol is the city's way to really support the unhoused, especially during um during the cold months. And so that's what we're looking to partner with Lazarus
House to do uh and and to be able to bring additional support to those folks who need to be um housed during those um particularly cold or wet nights and days. Thank you, counselors. Any questions or
comments? Council President Licia, thank you again for uh for being here in front of the gas. Um I have a few questions concerned and and probably a different approach uh when it comes to uh any type of funds related to
the fire victims and the winter um protocols. So essentially what I'm seeing here is that this is $122,000 not that much money to be able to uh house many people. Yeah. Uh when it comes to potentially an
emergency uh we just have a fire low street that I believe over 30 people were displaced a little bit more. um just don't have the exact number but I was wondering to see if the city take another set of approach
uh when it comes to any type of fund related to fire victims again not my jurisdiction I am just the person who s who sits on the the the committee for this um for these funds um and so that would be a question that I
would have to get back to you on because it's not my purview. No. And and actually this is this is good. Why? Because you're not bringing information that is from from year to year to year to year. So maybe new ideas
might come up out of this. And what I mean is is like essentially we keep on promoting um uh selfinsure and uh uh and also uh renters's insurance. Mhm.
And we keep on telling people, "Oh, it's justund something thouund something dollars. It's just hund something dollars. Justund something dollars. It may be less than 150. It may be less than 150. It's it's it could be less than that. It could be less than
$200 for sure." So, I was wondering to see if somehow we develop a a through an organization uh some type of obviously with the city. I don't think we may be able to do it like based on opinions that we have from the past. uh maybe uh through Lasser
House or other organization that might be work with this with these type of uh victims that if we can provide some type of grants for victims that are going through the situation of of fire victims and subsequentially be able to promote uh the the the
rentals insurance um through a grant and and and one year of rental insurance could be less than a night on a hotel. And if we if we think of this at this in this way, potentially is the same victim
might go through the same situation and in years to come, they going to have at least a policy that the city pays for uh for a year and then to sequentially be able to work with that uh with the new renter or the landlord to be able to
have them, you know, somehow uh require those uh to be able to get some type of uh uh some type of insurance for the renters or renters's insurance. So just just having this 122,000 can we allocate
some money to work with an organization to be able to provide information related to renters's insurance plus uh to the victims potentially have some type of fund uh for them to buy on their
own uh the renters's insurance itself. So this that's something that we can uh look into it to see if we can out of this 122,000 potentially get a 10% of it and then be able to start a new uh pilot program on on this. Um I I I to be able to reallocate line
items, they would have um the the uh director Pimentel would have to have a conversation with DPH about that um because there was a budget piece that went with with the application. However, cuz I'm taking notes as I'm looking down, but I'm listening cuz I'm I'm
writing. But um the there's a part of it that speaks to community outreach workers and and their their responsibility to help or to support wraparound services and certainly that's a place where what you're suggesting could be wrapped into what they do. We
could make that part of the protocol. Um again, I can't I can't say that we're going to do that. It's something I will suggest to pre to director Pimentel um so that it's it's it's considered for for the staff moving forward. But yes, it's something that we've been talking
about and really thinking about because um as the fires happen and as people get displaced and we know the cost of housing, we know that there that's something that we have to make sure that our renters are are are aware of that they know how to access it. Um we did do
a little bit last year in October around renters's insurance but it's something that has to be ongoing not once a year. So definitely something that we're talking about behind doors um to see what's the best approach um the most impactful approach because we know we
have around a 70% renter um occupancy in the city. Um so that it's not lost on us that that's something that needs to be um to that needs to be supported in some way or form. Yeah. And the reason why I'm bringing this up exactly because of that over 70%
of the people are renters uh and lens. So we promote we promote programs for uh homeowner occupied uh but we never promote and a program that it might help uh during an emergency and then we we have those
emergency every every very often in the city of Lawrence and uh and and not be able to promote renters's insurance is something that I think we're missing or at least we should be taking this approach knowing the fact that uh if we uh promote this
and and one of the victims in the future take advantage of it. It's it's one less family that we need to uh potentially uh have to assist. And it's not because we don't want it's because we want them we want to make sure that they're better
off because the city have limit amount of funds. 122,000 is not going to take us too long. So just taking taking that as a suggestion and please bring it up to the team and see if they can and incorporate those discussions
into that uh to the expenditures. We'll do. Thank you. Thank you council president. I had councelor Marmo next. Um, I just want to piggy back off of our council president. Um, and you're going to probably say this is not under your
purview, but um, considering that what these funds are going to be used for, it's for fire victims. Um, I'm just trying to gain an understanding. Is it for the most recent fire victims or is this like um, so, you know, any any fire victims prior
to the most recent one that we had on Lobo Street? I don't know if we had any victims from was it Medford? Um I don't know if there was anyone displaced, but I I'll give you an example. After Low Street fire, there was one on Medford Street. You said Medford and I I thought city.
I'm like, what? No, no, no. Medford Street. I'm following you now. I'm following you now. Close to Winter Street and Es Street. Um, so I say all of this to say, um, I'm curious to what degree is the city
keeping track of these of these fire victims? Um, during most my most recent, um, community outreach. Mhm. Um I came across with a family uh that was a victim of being displaced from
Loville Street and they are residing with a family friend um on Morton and they are only there I think for the next they're only allowed to be there um for the next week or so. So they're considered homeless. Um
they're feeling as if nothing has been done. they earn too much income to even qualify for home base to qualify for the full aotment of food stamps. So, I'm just curious as to like again I'm not I
know this is probably not under your jurisdiction but considering what these funds are going to be used for. I'm trying to see if you're able to provide that data for us uh in the next upcoming meeting. Yes. Yes. And I I I I will I will v I I
I will apologize for Maga Bion because she was supposed to be here with us tonight and she's the she's the new um homelessness initiative coordinator and would probably be able to answer some of those questions for you. Uh Magro Gion,
who's who's the homeless coordinator? Um so who's the homeless coordinator again? Magro Gion. Is it the Bagos? I think it is. I don't know who that is. She sent an email. I'm sorry.
Okay. So, yeah. So, continue with this. I will I will go back to her to see if she if she'll be able to answer the questions that you you asked. Why isn't she here tonight? Cuz this is an important I am not sure. I communicated with both her and and Manurva this morning. So I I
if she sent me an email, I didn't see it because I've been out for most of the afternoon um doing outreach and some other work on the on the road. So I not to cut you off, I really to me it's important to know who is it that I should direct these questions to cuz I
have that family's name, phone number, and I want to be able to delegate these issues to the appropriate party. Um I thought Charlottette was still the the No, not not Charlottette. Okay. So I will I can I will I will send an email
and introduce you um to her. So she actually she sent us an email. Okay. However, it is important for her to show up in person when it comes to matters of homelessness and displacement so we can see who it is in person as well.
You're being asked questions that you don't know the answers to that we should have our homeless coordinator here for. and can you please relay that message? Yes. Thank you. Um, so any other questions or comments, madame chair? So, we don't have the homeless
coordinator here. So, and I have questions. Okay. Can I for her? Can we table this item? Can I have a motion to table item 361-25? Motion to table. Is there a second? Can I ask a question before the second
Sure. No, there's no discussion. There's no discussion on table matters. How detrimental is it by tableabling this matter? Cuz I I will support my colleagues cuz we do have questions, but I also want to hear from you as to how
detrimental it is. Um will it cause a delay or a setback? I don't I did I do not think so. Okay. Second. All right. So, can I So, there's a motion to table. There's it's been properly seconded. All those in All those in favor say I.
I. Second. I seconded it. Councelor Luzon made made the motion. Councelor um Marl seconded it. All those in favor say I. I. The eyes have it. Thank you. Um you
have another item. Item 362-25. authorization to expend $139,85 grant funds from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health awarded to the mayor's health task force slash
Lawrence Mass in motion for active transportation safe routes to school to school and parks and open spaces. Alicia, can you please explain? That's a mouthful. That is a mouthful. So, Lawrence is one
of 10 communities across the Commonwealth that are look that are part of the Mass in Motion um uh syndicate uh under under DPH. Uh we are funded to look broadly at um uh issues related to
healthy eating and active living in the city of Lawrence. We're looking specifically at at physical activity and the physical environment because we we can make um that determination. Um, and so for us, our strategies are active transportation, looking at the Shasheen
Road and River Trail as calm corridors leading to public infrastructure such as the three schools along the way, um, the Breen School, the the South Lawrence East Middle and Elementary School and the Lawrence High Schools. Um it's also
uh connected and and on the way to um the Shasheen Park uh which houses a few baseball fields and a soccer field. It's adjacent to the um DCR pool, swimming pool. Uh it it it's it has a connection
to the Kane soccer field and to the Sullivan Courts and the Veterans Memorial Stadium. So, it's they're really two very um important corridors that needs a need a lot of love. And so, um we have undertaken to look at those
corridors with the community and with um other members of of our of our partnership um to see what folks think about uh improvements. Um what would they like to see? Um and and um what are
some of the things that we can do? uh to to support that. Um so we last year we did outreach with the community and we got feedback. Um we did some walks along both the trail and the road. Um and continue to to have conversation with
the community. Um we worked at we we we we did some work in conjunction with Groundwork Lawrence at the at the Costello Farm. Um and so we're com we've we're putting together a report with recommendations for um improvements that
will be um shared with you all at at some point when it's completed. Thank you councilors. Any questions or comments? Um through me council president. Uh thank you Alicia for providing that information. We have a long discussion about that yesterday and uh I appreciate
it. We have similar similar loan similar loan here on the lower tower hill that you guys are going to be using uh for this area right that's under the reach project. Yeah. So the active strat the mass in motion it covers the south and we we do partner
with the parthram school and we are we're we're also partnering with the Arlington for fiscal year 2026 which is this current year. Um so active transportation is one strategy that we have. uh school policy more more um specifically safe routes to school is
the other strategy that we're looking at and for that we're looking to increase walker walkership and write and riding to school um and have been working with closely with the Partham and the um Frost School um in that last year we
were able to do two of the three flagship days um with at the Frost School and one at the Partham the second one got snowed out Um, but what we're looking to do is to most kids, 75% of kids live within a/4 mile radius of
school so they can walk. And so we're walking working with parents, working with school administration, looking at ways to get kiddos out and walking. Um, we know that we know that there uh there are mental health and physical health benefits to doing that. It's it it
really um supports uh uh social cohesion among students. Um and so it it's a benefit for for everyone. Uh there's there doesn't have to be traffic a traffic a traffic um congestion around schools during arrival and dismissal. So that's the one that's a second strategy.
And the third strategy is really around um building up inclusive and equitable parks, looking particularly at the permitting system and making sure that there are things in place for all users of the park. So regardless of your your ability, if you want to go to the park,
you should be able to use it as a resident of this of the city. And so we've been doing that. Um we're working with the rec department and and with DPW to do some of this work. Um and uh they they were able to do a lot of work in at
the Howard Park um in FY25 that just ended. Uh and now we're working with the Arlington school because we know uh teacher Maggie Rei and some of the others they do take the schools from the Arlington the students sorry from the
Arlington to the the Howard Park for extra extracurricular activities. And so this year we're going to be looking at using the um the safe safe routes to parks um framework to look at uh two of
our corridors that they use to get to the Howard Park to see how what improvements can be made on those corridors. And we'll also be um installing uh um a ped hopefully a pedestrian crossing and pedestrian signs
um that alert uh p uh vehicle vehicle owners to the fact that kids are people might be crossing here. So pay attention, slow down when you're when you're going along Lawrence Street. So that's some of what we're looking to do this year. Thank you.
Any other questions or comments? See council Mar is this just for Howard Park or what other parks in the city is going to benefit from this award. Um so th that was just one example. Um they are they have been working with all
the parks. Um they've been working with park users. Uh I know they've been working closely with the leagues um and with some of the events folks. They've done some revamping of permits. uh they they've they've implemented a system with with with you guys I I believe
around how permits the flow of permitting um some there are some documents that they have uh either created or revised. Uh so I know that there is work that has happened they did some work with um the autism group and
had partnered with the Lawrence Police Department last year to have an autism awareness day event. So, we'll continue to work with um particularly uh we've talked about working with the CPAC from the Lawrence public school, the special
education parent advisory council, alphabet. So, um u so we'll continue to work with with the the leagues and other folks that use the park, making sure that everybody has a chance to use the park. Um we know the popular parks are are
very well used. If you drive by the South Common in the especially during the summertime, it's a buzz and that's what we want to see. We want to see people coming out and using our public spaces because we know there are a lot of us in the city and there's not a lot of open spaces in at home. So, where
there are open spaces, we want to create those environments that make it such that everybody can use them. Thank you. All right, councelor. At this point, I'll entertain a motion. Motion motion to send to full council with a
favorable recommendation. Motion has been made by council mar. Is there a second? Seconded by the council president. All discussion seeing none. All those in favor say I. I. The eyes have it. Thank you. We will see you next week. Thank you.
All right. The next item and the last item is item well under new business at least. Item 363-25. authorization to expend 95,000 $95,76520 from the Commonwealth Transportation
Infrastructure Enhancement Trust Fund brought to us by our DPW director, director Jorge Hyman. Yeah. Good evening, counselors. Jorge Hime, public works director, 200 Common Street. So, I'm here to request authorization to expand $95,765
um of the Commonwealth Transportation Infrastructure Enhancement Trust Funds. So, the DPW intend to use these funds to continue um doing pavement markings around downtown areas and uh our main roads. So, I'm
looking for your consideration. This is P just for pavings to finish the p the street markings I mean markings markings the street markings. Okay counselors any questions or comments? Council president. Um this is that chair right?
Yeah. Oh yeah. Uh this is the uh the funds that we receive every year because of the share right. Yes. Correct. Okay. So over receiving these funds every year. So Okay. So usually I I have seen uh for the last two years we have expanded this
funds for the downtown uh I believe that the first year was 120 something and then another 10 and something and this year is about 100,000 uh so can we expand those expenditures to uh potentially all the locations
because I know that we prioritize uh the uh the school around the school areas and we also prioritize is uh the downtown area but sometime we don't have uh payment markings around local roads
perhaps all the locations because every year we have those two main priorities and I'm glad that we getting these funds trust me but I just want to make sure like at least we consider a portion of it to do uh payment marking at least in in a temporary side or in a temporary
way uh to do uh markings around local roads. Yeah, we're doing that. So we recently paved Mim Street. We had to go back and paint it. So and on and on and Habro too by the next two lines over there. So we we
using those funds all over the city. So we also have a project that we had to discuss with um um the BP Madame Chair uh Stephanie Fanty MO so that we that these funds are going to be utilized to to provide some
uh uh painting on on M Bernon street but that's something that we need to discuss because we need to create an ordinance before moving on on this project but but again so we we use these funds all over the city. Okay. Because I just saying because you just mentioned that it was going to be
used for the downtown. So that's why that that's correct to finish downtown. So but these phones are also used in front of the schools. So we have new schools that we need to go and continue to to provideing then with the crosswalks and all of that just to
create safety around around. So essentially uh uh these funds are going to be used for many locations. Perfect. Uh that's correct. Yeah. And um we can we use chapter 90 funds to be able to uh do pavement
marking other than new pave. Yes, we can. We can do that. Yes, if we do the if we request the project with the state and it gets approved, yes, we can use those funds. Okay. So, I just trying to identify different source of funds so we can
expand uh potentially uh more markings around the city. And I know that we do we do markings around the city and uh downtown school areas uh in major roads specifically the double
yellow center line but I'm wondering about the local road that you know kind of like we painted once but kind of like you know the priorities are not quite there. So you will see that very soon. So we working on that. So we we need these
funds to continue doing that. We have the vendor in place. They just waiting for us to to give them the go ahead and and you will see a lot done this um season. So we'll see more local roads that haven't been painted for a while. Absolutely.
All right. No problem. Thank you. Um director, I've been receiving complaints from or concerns from middle school students actually pertaining to crosswalk paintings. I can tell you in district E around the two schools on I
think the weatherbe we've been working on it slowly but at least around the frost those crosswalks are in horrible paint condition. I believe and I'm going to continue saying this we've been prioritizing a lot in North Lawrence and I don't believe the projects or the
efforts have been as balanced. Um, I know you help as much as you can when you can and I'm gonna give you the credit for that, but I I do want to see a little bit more. I think um where Yeah. When you receive those type of complaints, so bring those complaints to
me directly. I'm going to give you the list. Yeah, I'll you know that that I'll go and take care of them. Thank you. You have your question, Council Mar? Um, I have a question in regards to uh what is the process? Like if you could walk
me through how do you choose the company that does these markings? Do we go out of bid through an RFP? Yes. Okay. The and the reason why I ask is because despite that I know the efforts that the city's making to beautify the city and
it it it's noticeable. However, I do notice when I walk in downtown, the markings are a little sloppy. So, I'm just wondering if that's something that you guys do. You guys notice that? Is that something normal? That's temporary. So, that's just the uh Oh, okay. Cuz some of it is like real
sloppy. I don't know. I was like I was just trying to say like if that's our lowest RFP offer, that's not the final work. It's just the setup. So, they they do the Yeah. And they do it like the night before and a couple of nights after they just go and do the
real painting. So, okay. Those you see a lot of tapes is no real paint. Oh, more to come, which is why he's in front of us this evening. Okay. Well, and it's a learning process for me to understand um how I'm happy to answer.
No, thank you. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, I'll now entertain a motion. I'll make a motion to send it to the full council with a favor recommendation. Second has been made by the council president, seconded by councelor Luzon. Discussion
seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. I. I. And the eyes have it. Thank you. Thank you, director. Counselors, can I have I don't see anyone from the police department. Can I have a motion to table items 364-25
and 365-25 pertaining to police grants and um prior year bills? Motion to table. Second. Motion has been made by council Marvel, seconded by councelor Luzon. All those in favor say I. I. And the eyes have it.
Okay. Now moving back to Can I have a motion to unte item 16925, our annual audit report? Motion's on table. Second. Motion has been made, properly seconded. All those in favor say I. I. And the eyes have it. Thank you so much for your patience.
Thank you very much. Uh this this final report will be relatively quick. Uh I just don't know that this the sorry to interrupt you, but the first part was was it was a lot of information. I saw including myself, we were taking notes. I also wanted to give the counselors
some time to either digest or Absolutely. Before we go to the final report, are there any other questions that we would like to address? Council Mar. Um, I'm going to go back a little bit to what my colleague was mentioning, the
long-term debt. So, I I'm reading that the currently the city has 2.28 million in authorized and unissued long-term debt. based on your experience and expertise in auditing um other similar cities and towns with
our you know similar demographic and and expenses and revenues. Would you say that we fall in line with that debt? Is it sustainable? Um or is that something that we should be alerted in terms of how to manage? you know, I as clients, I
have a lot of larger cities throughout the Commonwealth and um I would suggest that you're the level of existing debt and you're authorized for future programs or future projects are are
pretty much in line with what we see with cities the size of of Lawrence. Uh again, not every project that that you all have voted to approve and authorize bonding for may come to fruition. Sometimes things may be tabled for
whatever reason that might be. Um, but but frankly, uh, I would suggest, um, I've seen a lot more debt and I've seen you you're probably somewhere right right in the middle, maybe a little over middle compared to most cities this size
within the uh, Commonwealth. U, but again, it's not. And if we looked quickly at the budget, the general fund budget, which is on page 79 of the financials, we see that your principal is only about
8.3 million. Interest is 6.9 6.5, excuse me, in the year. So is that 14? We'll call it just easy math. $15 million a year for principal and interest on your long-term debt. your total appropriation budget, not even
including transfers out, we're talking $470 million or so roughly. So, you know, you're talking 6% maybe of your budget is going to debt service. Typically, we'll see in the
range of somewhere between 4 and 10. The rating agencies like to see 10 and below realistically. So right now currently based on what I'm seeing at roughly what we'll call do quick math at about 6%
I'd say you're you're doing quite fine for for your budget level. Absolutely. My last question is um is there anything within this audit that you made a determination that we should improve on?
Well, you know the this audit actually went very smoothly. Um again as I mentioned information was provided we didn't end up with material weakness or significant deficiencies. What that means is all the areas that we looked at
to see if reconciliations are occurring if the departments are communicating with each other if uh the policies procedures of the city are being followed by various departments before any dollars are spent are being
followed. they are uh we did not uncover uh anything material that we we feel we need to bring to the council's attention during fiscal 24 at all. We thought it went uh very well. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Council president just a followup questions on that. Our operating budget for the city of Lawrence of the general fund it's about $100 million. So we cannot include on that 470
as you mentioned uh the chapter 70 funds which is basically this location fund. So it's completely different. So I mean know we if we look at the $50 million death service that we have that's about 15%. If you remove the schools I I I'll I'll
agree with you there. And so in if if we look at it in that light, yes, it's creeping over the 10% and it might be something that that you know as the the counselors you may want to start to think about look at what projects are
are very necessary and you know kind of prioritize you know what what you need to do for the city uh the city's infrastructure, the city's assets, that type of thing to keep them uh in good condition. We just heard of the roads and and so on and so forth. It's all
very important things to, you know, to maintain and keep going. We all know that that it it's not a cheap process, but I do agree with you if we remove the schools and such, uh, you're at about the 15% range. Um, and in if we looked
at it in that light, you're starting to creep up a little bit on on the high side. So I would uh look to and if we if I just quickly looked at one thing in your notes the debt
just want to double check one thing like your general so you you know we're in what uh 25 you know you have about 25 years left on a lot of your bonds so it's it's not going to diminish anytime
soon realistically. So I I think now the proactive side is to be selective on what projects uh you allow bonding to occur on and um maybe some of the smaller projects that maybe the city
is able to appropriate some available monies and not bond for. uh and or the treasurer can always be looking at uh some of these older bonds. Depending on when the interest rates start changing, they may be able to refinance some of
those bonds and save some uh principal and or interest uh on those particular bonds as well, which will help to decrease that percentage each year. Yeah. But it's not not does not happen with the current market. No, it's not happening with the current
market. I'll give you that. Uh but you know it it it will come back. Uh we as auditors we how do I say this? In in a in a funny way positive excuse me you've been very positive. The as auditors we see the cycle right
of of interest rates and when the interest rates are low we have clients that are refinancing all day long and as they're high as you're mentioning uh it's not the best market conditions to go out and do that. So, yes, I agree that that's kind of where we are right
now. Um, it part of having a CIP plan is is prioritizing the projects that the city really needs to uh put forth and and hopefully be able to fund. And at the same time, part of that is is having
your treasury function also be reviewing what you do have for current issued bonds, whether it be general or uh water sewer, although the water sewer fund is really designed to kind of pay for their
own. Um, but yes, you'd want to continue to pay attention to the markets and the rates and what's out there. Um uh strong financial reporting, good results within
your financials, no material or significant deficiencies allows the city to maintain and increase your bond rating, which also helps to um gain a better interest rate and that type of thing when you do go to market. So it's
it's sort of not a just a one answer, if I may. There are a number of attributes that can go into helping that 15% be reduced and um again yes pulling out the schools I I would suggest it is probably
uh a prudent exercise to approve projects in a in a manner of which you're prioritizing what really needs to be done first type of thing. Absolutely.
um because of our uh level of uh debt service that we have currently that's why we have not uh had a formal CIP and we are merely going on the PGO capital which is budgeted every year per statue so we haven't had we haven't come
before you uh the council to ask for any borrowings because of the high debt that we have for the u the two new schools and the police station no the reason why is because um the two counselors that just have questions are both correlated it directly. Councelor
Luzon was talking about the free cash and the free cash is correlated to the debt service because we direct $20 million to be able to cover that extra debt service that we're going to have for the next few years until we
actually get out of uh out of a few loans which I can see here that in 2025 one of those loans are going to be ending uh and then the other one is going to be in 2027 and then after that we're going to be at
the same level that we are today, but without the financing or the extra money that we put in uh due to the free cash that we just we just uh appropriate to those specific the service uh the
services that we have. So essentially the next bond that we have that is going to or the next bond that is going to be ending looking at this page 52 is going to be in 14 years from now. So the city of Lawrence will have a tough time when it
come to finance any type of project for the next 14 years. So looking at this audit and not not having that as a as a as a concern or findings uh it's it's like it should be as as one
of the findings uh to be able to for us to look into it. So and that's that's not it's not there uh as clear as we as we're discussing. I understand where you're coming from. I think sometimes and as an audit firm uh
we have not always u as you mentioned the school side of it a lot of times we will look at the gross budget and or the percentage thereof but your point I think was very valid in
knowing that there are revenue streams that are directed directly to your educational processes and those should be called out and look at the net. So, I would have to agree with you on that. And um uh looking at the dates, I do see
as you're referring that there'll be some falling off, but then yes, you do have I mean, one of your most recent bonds goes out to 2022 with about $114 million remaining. Um so, it it will be
it will be an important budgetary item for the city to be thinking about your debt service going forward. Correct. Yeah. I mean, I just want to make sure like we at least we put that in as as one of the findings uh as a cons as a
just something to look at it and people to be aware of because as a city it's going to be difficult for us not to be able to have a uh a uh an not an appropriation fund but a de a a bond
authorization for uh infrastructures in the next 14 years. And that's something that we're not going to be able to afford with the debt service, the level of death service we have, which is 15 million, right? About every year, right? So, so that's that's something that we
need to look at and that's something that should be reflected on the audit as a finding. Um when you say as a finding um uh uh are you referring I mean I I
wouldn't call it um a significant deficiency that would that but it it would I think it is a point of of interest absolutely very important to discuss um and by all means I'd be more than
happy to to to meet with you all. You know, if you had a meeting that you wanted to simply discuss debt and budgets and CIP and that type of thing and throw ideas around um and and see where we land and how we can help assist
yourselves in the city of Lawrence, um maybe find a way to pay down some of this debt, find ways that you can make be able to increase revenues that help to offset that, that type of thing. um I'd be, you know, more than happy to to
be involved in something like that and and assist. No, essentially what I'm what I'm trying to said is like, you know, it's it's not a deficiency. It's our reality. U but it's a it's a situation that we need to look at and knowing the fact
that, you know, and I'm going to keep on going on on the same direction, knowing the fact that we're not going to be able to afford any other any potential other project in the future. something that we need to look into it and have it as potential finding of that uh of the audit and not necessarily as a
deficiency but something that we need to look at and be aware of the potential uh of the potential perhaps issue issue uh that that might bring and then having that as one of the finding on the audits
will get get us aware of the current financial situation that we're going through because currently is fine. We be able to afford whatever we have, but for the next 14 years, um it's something that we're not going to be able to afford any u anything
else. Uh and then essentially it is important to um potentially have some type of uh out of those findings potentially potentially have potentially have some
type of good practice um suggestions on there as of how we potentially might be able to address any of those potential issues that we might have in the future. Uh and I know that you know
it might not be within the jurisdiction of the audit. Uh but it is important to have this conversation open. Uh knowing the fact that you know it is a situation that we might face in the future. Uh and
if we don't address it now as a as a potential issue and then it might it might come back to us and the and the 10 years from now or five years from now and and those are good things to be able to kind of like track down
since we know that it is happening. We have the two new schools. We have the police department, but we have a death service that we need. We we increase and we actually financing at this point with free cash
uh under under thanks to the ARPA funds. So those are things that we need to maintain mentioning it here or somewhere uh and that way we we understand like you know this is the true situation that we that we're in.
I think that we could easily uh as an not an addendum, but uh rather than a full uh what we'll call uh management letter, we could put a letter together um uh to the city uh discussing the debt
issue and making some recommendations there. That would not be a problem at all. I'd be happy to do that. careful to add to your list of task. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, we are ready to proceed
with the next report. Okay, the next report is is a pretty quick one. It's what we called the schedule of expenditures of federal awards. Again, all that does is uh report the federal dollars, whether it's
it's city, school, police, fire, what have you. Any federal dollars that the city received. Uh as of fiscal June 30th, fiscal 24, the city expended approximately $70 million worth of federal funds. Uh we've noted that uh as
we've sort of discussed the various COVID related grants are starting to uh be spent down. Uh so education stabilization fund and opera the American Rescue Plan Act were two of the
largest spent uh during fiscal 24. Um, we as auditors have to go through a process to determine which grants we do look at. And this year we had to look at the WEIA cluster, the workforce in uh,
innovation and opportunity act cluster as well as the education stabilization fund. Uh, the federal government gives out certain guidelines that we have to audit by to asssure that the city is handling those funds properly. I'm happy
to say that uh there were no findings or question cost in going through those programs and on this report the city received an unmodified opinion as well which again is the best that you can
get. And realistically for that particular report in a nutshell that's all all it does is report the federal expenditures and it's a clean report. It it would be without findings what the city would be
looking for. Okay. Council, any questions or comments? I have a quick question. Oh, you have council president. So, just to to make sure that uh that we mention this is no finding on this on
this report. Correct. Okay. So in overall and in previous year we have have uh no typically no finding on on the federal grants and the federal funds. Uh that is correct. This is not an exception.
That is what this is not an an an exception. So no it is not an exception. uh uh based on my review of a number of years of the city's federal report uh there have been no findings or question cost which means
that each year the grants that we have to look at and scrutinize based on federal regulations will change. However, having no findings or question cost each year states that your uh grant administrators and such are handling the
funds in accordance with the federal guidelines properly. Okay. So, the reason why I'm asking is because I want to make sure like we at least have this question being asked. So, we are we have no issues whatsoever with this type of
this type of not with the federal funds at all. Those are there. Everything that we looked at was above board properly um uh excuse me uh supported by documentation uh followed all the compliance
requirements that were required to follow uh from the federal government and uh we had no discrepancies noted whatsoever in the grants that we had to audit. Okay. Any other questions or comments?
Seeing none, I believe that concludes our audit report. I'm looking at the CAPFA. Do you have anything else to add before Okay, that concludes our fiscal year 2024 audit report. Thank you for the work. A lot of numbers, a lot of
time that goes into this. So, I appreciate the work um that you guys put in. Oh, I spoke too soon. Council President, thank you for the full council. Uh, I want to kind of like change a little bit the format. So, if you can bring a
presentation to expedite the time cuz we cannot spend an hour and a half at the full council level. So, maybe uh a PowerPoint presentation that you can go over line by line or or whatever you guys feel like it is acceptable.
But, I mean, shorter period of time. We could certainly uh because I mean uh we could certainly shorten the amount of time. Absolutely. Yeah. Because this was my first time with you all so I kind of was given a little bit of extra info. No no and this is this is the committee
to do it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. This this is what these committees are for. Yeah. This is what the committees are for. So we can go over everything in details. But at the full council we provide uh a summary of what we have discussed at this level. If anybody wanted to look at the meeting, they can come over to take
a look at these meetings and then we have a full detail uh and detail oriented meetings around the issue. But at the full council, maybe a a summary of what we have discussed and a powerful presentation it may be better because it's quicker, it's smoother. We'll
definitely definitely make note of that. Council, thank you. Mother for the couple. Are the reports available the website review? So on the website um they should be able
to find all the reports the the approved uh budget all the audit reports we upload them. Yes. Check real quick. But okay. So for the full council meeting, council president,
your task as the president, make sure everyone has these these these packets. Um, if anyone does have questions that are I guess more in in the in the details, they'll ask they'll definitely review
this prior. And I I know for the capful to make sure that at the full council we have the presentation ahead of time so that they can um project it on the screens
and I think that's it. So just for three minutes can do you mind sending sending a copy to the full council uh digital? We have I I have them. I can forward it to you so you can Yep. I have them. All right. Can I have a motion to send this up to the full council as a
committee report? So move second. Motion has been made properly seconded. Discussion seeing none. All those in favor say I. I. And the eyes have it. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you all. See
you next Tuesday. Thanks. All right. Now at this point, can I have a motion to adjourn? has been made probably seconded. All those in favor say I. I. I. And the eyes have it. Thank
you so much counselor for that moment.