Simplified: The City Council is working all month on figuring out how the city will spend money in 2025. Here are some early takeaways from the budget hearings.

Why it matters

• The council is working from a $781 million budget that Mayor Paul TenHaken unveiled in late July. You can get a closer look at that here.
• This week, councilors got a general overview, as well as a more in-depth look at the proposed budget from the mayor's office, the council and – likely most interesting to the public – the parks and recreation budget.

Here's a look at three big takeaways from the first hearing:

1) Councilors are hesitant to approve a budget before November.

Finance Director Shawn Pritchett talked at length about the potential impacts of Initiated Measure 28 – to the extent that at one point Council Chair Curt Soehl had to remind him about rules against campaigning at the podium.

• IM-28 would repeal the state's sales tax on groceries and "consumables," and there's still debate state-wide on what exactly that could mean in terms of calculating sales tax revenue.
• If it passes, the city will have to rethink its entire budget because sales tax is a significant revenue source.

There's also additional economic uncertainty with the upcoming presidential election.

That's led a couple of councilors to question the budget timeline, including Councilor Rich Merkouris.

"Why are we voting on Sept. 3 if we have all this concern that everything's crashing in November," he said.

Councilor Soehl echoed his concerns, particularly in regard to plans to take on additional debt in the form of an aquatics bond to fund new pools.

• It's likely we'll hear more on this topic before any final budget is approved.

2) New ice ribbon expected to open this winter

Jacobson Plaza, a new park between the Falls and the Levitt on Phillips Avenue, is expected to start operations yet this year, Parks Director Don Kearney said.

• With that, the council will be discussing a fee structure – i.e. what it'll cost to skate on the ice ribbon – likely in October. Kearney didn't get into specifics of what that'll look like, but noted he expects the park to bring in $400,000 in annual revenue and cost about $900,000 to operate.

The parks department is also looking for a significant staff expansion in 2025 with a total of 10 new full-time folks to manage both Jacobson Plaza and the new Westside Recreation Center – formerly Sanford Wellness at Tea/Ellis Road.

3) City losing about 9% of employees each year, but more folks are applying for open jobs

Human Resources Director Bill O'Toole shared the latest turnover rate for full-time employees – about 9% – which is down slightly from last year but generally level with a post-pandemic workforce.

• O'Toole noted that when you account for expected retirements, the turnover rate is closer to 6%.

Meanwhile, the city is seeing more applicants on average for each open position, a number that's steadily been increasing after a drop in 2021-22.

What happens next?

Budget hearings continue weekly throughout August, and the council is expected to approve a final budget in early September.