Heather Harp

I would like to address a concern that I heard oftentimes on the campaign trail: transparency in government.  Over the last couple months I have come to realize as a newly elected official that Missoula is extremely transparent when it comes to information, but it does present its own problems: navigation of all the information, and comprehending a complicated financial structure.

To that end, I volunteered to take an online course titled “Montana Municipal Officials Handbook” that provides a wealth of information for the newly elected.  My fellow Ward 3 Councilwoman Gwen Jones and I partake in weekly conversations with other elected officials all across the State of Montana.  It is obvious to all of us that there is no way any person could possibly be prepared to know it all on Day 1 in office, hence my reasoning for accelerating my learning curve.

One of the most important lessons I have learned so far is that as a Councilor I am limited in the scope of my work.  Who would have thought?  Just like at the federal and state levels, the local municipal level has three branches of government that checks and balances one another: executive, legislative and judicial.  My role as a Councilor is primarily as a legislator whose responsibilities include financial oversight, but that is NOT one and the same as micro-managing competent department heads and staff accountants.  That job is filled by the Chief Executive of Missoula, our Mayor.  I liken it to my role as board member for the non-profits I have served.  My fiduciary duty of accountability does not mean I dive into the weeds of every transaction that takes place…that is for the Executive Director to do.

The Administration and Finance Committee, of which I am the Chair, is charged with financial oversight and one specific task is reviewing claims, which is voted upon by Council early on in the agenda of Monday night meetings. This can be a bit daunting as a member of the public and/or for non-accountants, and so I would like to focus on the Claims Process.

First of all a definition of “claims” is in order.  We all know that government is not omnipotent and capable of conjuring goods out of thin air.  So imagine yourself in the private sector for a moment and you sell office supply goods, or you are a contractor of services.  If the City buys your electrical controls or car parts, you expect to be paid, right?  If the City negotiates a contract with you for excavating work on South Avenue you expect to be paid for work performed as well, right?  Exactly.  Those are considered accounts payable [AP] in the world of accounting, but we call them “claims”.  So every Monday night City Council is presented with the claims submitted by the private and non-profit sectors that need to be paid in a timely fashion.

Prior to our Council meetings, I want to ensure we are paying for goods and services out of the correct fund.  Following Generally Accepted Accounting Practices [GAAP] we organize our expenditures and revenues into seven funds (General, Special Revenue, Debt Service, Capital Projects, Enterprise, Internal Service, and Component Unit & Agency Funds).  We cannot comingle money between funds; for example we cannot pay for playground equipment out of the Debt Service fund.

Follow me along by clicking here for the City’s agenda from the February 12^th meeting.  I first open the file “AP Memo over $1k+other claims” and examine it.  When something sticks out at me – let’s use a recent payment to Boone Karlberg for legal service for the month of January for $16,824.43 – then I cross reference that to the “AP Invoices detailed claims”. Locating that particular claim is easy to do as they are alphabetical.  I can see the invoice #, the description, the amount, and most importantly the series of digits that our finance department uses to code that particular entry.  In this case it is: 5210.335.430590.350.000.  Hmm, what does this mean?  Well I pull out my handy dandy Chart of Accounts and cross-reference the codes to translate to:

5210 = Enterprise fund

.335 = Water Company department

.430590 = Public Works activity

.350 = Professional Services object

                                                            .000 = NO sub-object assigned

Now each department – whether Parks and Rec or Public Works has its own budget.  Its department head is responsible for ensuring that the claims he or she submits to the Finance Department are within its budget.  Staff accountants then double check that the claims are accurate before they are presented Finance Director, who in turn prepares them for Council.  That process takes roughly two weeks from the moment the City receives the invoice to payment.  Much longer than that, and that is seen as being slow to pay and that is not something our government should be doing.

So when Monday night rolls around, we are presented with a long list of claims totaling anywhere from $500,000 to $1,500,000.  But here is something interesting worth remembering: claims are for work or services already provided.  They are not a contract for future work.  And that is why you should see a unanimous decision in favor of paying our claims to the citizens of Missoula.  It is just best practices.

I certainly hope you walk away feeling like you built some comprehension of the magnitude of what it takes to be accountable for our fair City.  Let me know if you have further questions.

It seems that housing affordability took center stage these last two weeks.  Here is a quick wrap up of the presentations that we heard.

January 23^rd – The City’s Director of Housing & Community Development, Eran Pehan, brought together the various stakeholders of the Reaching Home Initiative also known as the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness to give us their annual update.  Our leaders in the governmental, medical, non-profit and faith-based communities are extremely committed to reducing the numbers of the most vulnerable people exposed to homelessness, as evidenced by the Coordinated Entry System [CES].  Imagine for just a moment how tough it is to be on the streets and having to figure out where to go for help.  Previously you had to travel from one agency to another, complete new paperwork at each place, and hope for the best.  The CES has simplified the process immensely for the clients as well as those trying to make their lives better.  They now have a hotline to call if you come across someone who needs housing at 211, or 549-HOPE after hours

January 24^th, the Committee of the Whole [COW] visited with Missoula Correctional Services and learned of the pre-release program they provide for those who opt to transition from prison to community life on a supervised basis.  Their program is cost-shared between the resident and the State of Montana and provides many opportunities of supportive life skills that perhaps you and I may take for granted.  Upon completion, these folks typically transition into our society with much lower rates of recidivism and their odds of success are much greater.  However, those who don’t qualify for the pre-release program end up facing much more difficult odds at finding housing or jobs that allows those with felony convictions – which needless to say oftentimes forces them to commit further crimes to put food in their belly or a roof over their heads.

January 26^th – The Bureau of Business &Economic Research put on their Annual Economic Outlook Seminar focusing on the Future of Higher Education.  There was optimism in the room of the economic future across the State, but again the strain of rising home prices due to low inventories was a major concern for attracting business to relocate to Missoula.  Contributing factors include regulations and policy, soaring material costs, and decline of laborers since the Great Recession.

January 30^th – The Missoula Organization of Realtors [MOR] hosted the Making Missoula Home presentation.  Daniel Werwath of Werwath Associates (a community development consultant) reminded us of what we believe to be true: that we suffer a terrible lack of affordable/attainable housing.  The median home price in 2001 was $138,000 and in 2017 it jumped to $255,000, 85% increase over 16 years or 5.31% increase average per year.  Unfortunately, wages have not kept pace with housing costs. In order for a household of four to qualify for that price range with 4% down payment, they have to earn roughly $89,916/year to keep that within a recommended 30% of income.  Let’s back that number out a bit to put it in perspective.

$89,916 / 2,080 hours’ year for full time work = $43.22/hour on a pre-tax basis

How many jobs in Missoula pay that rate?  Nowhere near enough.  And so families must work multiple jobs to feed, clothe and house themselves leaving very little for the extras in life.   Alarmingly, 12,000 or 41% of households within the City limits are considered “cost-burdened”, and that number skyrockets to 69% for renters earning less than $35,000/year.

January 31^st – The Committee of the Whole listened as Vanessa Crossgrove Fry, MBA, Assistant Director of the Idaho Policy Institute and Assistant Research Professor of the School of Public Service, presented the math side of the chronic homeless issue.  Have you ever considered the cost of what it takes our community to address chronic homeless cases?  Vanessa presented numbers reflecting Boise, Idaho a community similar to ours in many ways and provided this story in numbers for “Joe”:

11 Emergency Service transports to hospital        = $15,000

13 Hospital visits                                                           + $26,000

14 arrests, 22 convictions                                           + $  3,000

95 days in jail                                                                 + $10,000

TOTAL                                                                              $54,0000

Currently in Missoula we have roughly 42 chronic homeless folks x $54,000 = $2,268,000/ year is spent on REACTIVE responses.  Vanessa challenged us to think about addressing the problem from a PROACTIVE vantage point that requires the collaborative efforts of the non-profit, public and private sectors in order to reverse the trend.  If we were to mimic what Boise has done with a Housing First intervention model, the cost of supplying decent supportive housing shrinks to $22,000 per person as per the cost-benefit analysis she demonstrated.

Not only do we have an ethical responsibility to ensure that people who may be dealing with addiction or mental health issues and therefore need support, but as a City Councilor we have the obligation as a trustee of the City’s finances to ensure that we are spending taxpayer’s money in the best possible way.  Going forward, we will be considering all possibilities of affecting public policy that can contribute to making Missoula attainable for all, not just the lucky few.

If you have ideas that would help us in this endeavor, we are all ears. 

WELCOME to the re-tooled blog that former Councilman Bob Jaffe started back when he served on City Council.  Following Wednesday committee meetings and a family supper, he shared his thoughts of what transpired during those committee meetings.  Oftentimes it was a summation of all matters brought forth, and other times his insight focused on sole topics.  As public citizens at the time, we all found his writings to be invaluable as they complemented that of the press and the verbatim minutes the City Clerk’s office is entrusted to take in the name of transparency.  The advantage of reading his work permitted a window into the deliberations one must weigh as an elected official.  It is apparent to us that listening, asking thoughtful questions, and learning from our constituents – who all have differing views – shapes and sculpts our own opinions in unexpected ways.  Sometimes it reinforces our own beliefs; other times we may alter course as the facts unfurl before us.

Our intention with this blog is to continue that thread of insight, and provide a thoughtful viewpoint of what we deem valuable and share information we find useful.

As a constituent you will be able to follow us, search archives, provide feedback, and ask questions if you wish.  All we ask is a civil discourse in this endeavor.  Note: This list is NOT an official service of the City of Missoula. But posts to this blog may be entered into the public record. If you wish to communicate your opinion on the record, you are always welcome to email Council at council@ci.missoula.mt.us.

We wish to extend a world of gratitude to Bob Jaffe who started the list-serve back in 2006, and recently handed over the compass for own navigation.  If you ever want to go back and peruse the history of the list it will continue to live here: http://www.cmslists.com/pipermail/missoulagov/

In service to the public,

Bryan von Lossberg, Ward 1 Councilman & Council President

Heather Harp, Ward 3 Councilwoman

Michelle Cares, Ward 6 Councilwoman