001All right. All right. Welcome everyone. This is not on. It is now. Welcome everyone. 7 o'clock just about. Um uh first item on the agenda is a pledge of allegiance. 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. >> All right. Thank you everyone. So, um, do we have folks online as well? Do we have anybody on Zoom tonight? John. >> John is on. John, can you hear us? >> He's not going to come. He said that he's going to come, but his flight is delayed. >> All right. So, John is not on Zoom. >> Not at the moment, at least. His flight's delayed. All right. Um, so tonight is our public hearing
002for the uh town manager's budget. Uh so tonight will be a little bit different order, but fundamentally we'll have the town manager deliver his budget and then we'll open it up to public comments. Um and then uh basically this isn't like the back and forth time with the town manager necessarily about the budget other than if we have questions um about any of the topics in here. Um we can we can ask those now and then when the ultimately when all of the departments come and do their we have specific workshops for each department. we'll be able to address all of those specific um things at those meetings which the public is also welcome to come to and uh provide feedback and comments on those. So without further ado, we will have uh Mr. Carpentino,
003our town manager, deliver us the budget. Thank you >> and teammate Mona. Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Welcome. Welcome. Pursuant to section 8004 of the town charter, I'm pleased to present the town manager's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 2027. Excuse me. I do have allergy issues year round. So this is going to be a problem. As in the past two decades, we prepared this budget utilizing the webs web-based budget software provided by cleargov for ease of use, clarity, and transparency in the budget process. During the presentation preparation of this budget um priority was focused on our four strategic initiatives on keeping true to our core values ensuring with continuity with integrity collaboration innovation respect and accountability. This proposed budget sets out a sustained, stable financial footing while focusing on economic development, public safety,
004and educational excellence with no net increase in full-time town staff. It fully funds pension obligations and reduces inefficiencies while setting aside enough capital reserves to fund priority projects and invest in long-term economic development. This budget prioritizes re reducing reliance on borrowing, minimizing the need for sudden tax increases or service cuts to fund unexpected expenditures while retaining the town's creditworthiness. The focus here is on long-term financial stability and long-term planning for infrastructure maintenance and incorporating GFOA, which is government financing officers association best practices. So with that, um, let's get on with the numbers. However, before I do that, I do need to recognize Director Finance and Operations Mona McKim sitting here, which without her knowledge, expertise, her unyielding dedication, and tenacity, as we all know, this budget would not be possible. I'd also like to recognize
005Kristen Owens, our town our town administrator of finance and operations and John Donner, town treasurer uh for their contributions contribution to the production of this budget. And I'd also like to thank uh my department heads for their professionalism, complete and uncom unquestionable commitment to their jobs and to the citizens of Rocky Hill. They've done a fantastic job. They didn't get what they wanted, but they did a fantastic job. Okay, let's move on a little bit here. Okay, this has worked for the past two weeks. Raymond Raymond gave you the thumbs up. >> Okay. >> No, that's not it. >> There we go. >> So, quickly we'll be looking at budget overview, a high level, you know, view of what's going on. Uh, town fund expenditure categories, fund balance, um, capital improvements, revenues, and then on
006to mill rate, taxpayer impact, and a quick rack about Okay, here we go. Uh, this table says it all really. Um, I'm proposing an 8.38% increase for fiscal year 202627, maintaining the board of ed's uh 8.89% increase for their operating budget, as well as uh adding uh increasing a $400,000 um line item for their capital investment reserve. um increasing the education only budget to 9.68%. On the town side, I'm proposing a 7% increase in operations and a 42% increase in capital investment reserves. And we do have a modest 0.25% decrease in debt, which results in an overall increase of 6.81% on the town side. Um looking at major um expenditure categories, four jump out on this chart, um as you can see clearly on the right. um the uh almost $5 million increase in education
007uh followed by a $1.1 million increase in insurance costs and followed by uh $890,000 increase in capital outlay which is capital expenditures and followed by salaries and related costs and we have a a ray of sunshine a 0.25% 25% decrease in debt, roughly $19,000. Now, I'm digging a little deeper into some expenditures. We're looking at um salary and benefits related costs. This category includes salary contractual increase of $635,000, excuse me. um converting the part-time economic development manager to the uh full-time director, which we had for 17 years, with a net increase of uh almost $53,000. Um we're looking to not fund the part-time attorney in human resources. We're also looking not to fund the currently vacant full-time assistant assessor position. There' be a savings of $82,000. I am looking to add one patrol officer for
008roughly $97,000. And we have part-time increases totaling 93,000 uh which include uh a part-time fire inspector for the fire marshall's office. That would be a as needed perdm uh position. Um $37,000 of uh part-time increases uh for the senior admin to assist the senior uh director. Um $13,000 in uh increases in part-time library assistance, $13,000 uh increase for fire call. Uh we have overtime increases totaling $54,000. We have uh police at 29,000 and the highway at 25,000. We have health pension liability insurance increases of 1.2 million. Uh moving on for contractual obligations, we have the ambulance increase uh for the contract. We have uh the recor of the uh LPRs, the license plate reader system contract showing an increase of $57,000 and saying an increase in our sanitation budget of $70,000 which is really to
009cover potential increases in the uh contract which we have out to bid right now with uh Weathersfield in Newington. So, we're not really sure how much that contract is going to cost yet. For contractual services, we have the statemandated uh stormwater MS4 program, which we need to increase $27,000 to uh adhere to. I'm looking to increase the grinding at the pit for brush uh by $35,000. I'm uh proposing a uh as needed part-time grant writer contractor um which is in the economic development fee line item and our legal appeals uh um line item. We're looking to reduce that by $35,000. We have a better handle on the appeals process and we manage that much more closely than we have in the past. fire increases. We're looking at $40,000 for training, which we have uh we
010need to we need to retrain the new recruits and also for firefighter one and firefighter two. Um I believe we have uh 20 some odd new recruits. We're looking for a $35,000 increase for turnout gear, uniforms, and activities. Uh for highway, we're looking for $126,000 increase for repairs, fuel, line painting, salt, and other public works uh expenses. We all know what's happening with oil and oil based fuels and lubricants. So, uh that's fairly understandable right now. Um we're looking uh to add $20,000 to purchase um replace some police tasers. Uh debt is down 19,000 and education of course $4.983 million. Capital improvements. Looking at the general fund increases for the capital budget, we're looking at a 40 42% increase for a total of 2.46 million, which includes the $500,000 for the board of ed reserve.
011Um, among the increases, we have town road aid at 105,000. Uh, looking to fund two police vehicles for $150,000. Uh Reval has increased an extra 10,000 up to $50,000. Now we're looking to introduce a new business incentive program uh at $150,000. The parks department is looking to purchase a robotic line painter at a cost of $47,000. And the fire department is looking to replace uh some of their uh aging radios. It's a two-year plan. So, we're looking to fund year one at 60,000 and there are several departments in need of vehicles uh four specifically one for highway, one for fire marshall, one for facilities, one for parks. Much of this is offset by a prior year's leasing being completed and being offline and and therefore freeing up some additional funding that was already um obligated
012for the leases that were just completed. Um this is in addition to um contractual vehicle and equipment leases and the multi-year RLE um HVAC energy efficiency upgrade project which is moving to the general fund. The first three years were funded by ARPA money and this is the first year which is into the uh which has which we have to move into the general fund. In addition, we're looking at a $250,000 for Elmbridge pool and other various infrastructure grant projects. And um of course we have the reserve increase for education. Moving on, um this pie chart just shows you uh very simply the increase in our proposed budget by major category. uh education being um of course the largest at 50 just over almost 50 and a half percent. The rest uh consumed by the town
013side salaries, benefits, capital outlay and this pie chart shows the uh total increase in the proposed budget by major category again board of 55%. the remainder uh townside salaries, benefits, insurance, debt payment. On to unassigned fund balance. This graph checks the percentage of unassigned fund balance over the past 10 fiscal years. So, um, looking at fiscal year 2016, the very left blue, u, I'm sorry, very left green column, um, the ends assigned fund balance was just above 6% of the, uh, total expenditures for that year, which was $70 million or so. Um, in 2017, uh, which was a stellar year for Rocky Hill, you know, the unassigned fund balance jumped up to, uh, just over 8%. And then there thereafter we started a downward trend uh to year 2022 which we had a dip in
014the uh unassigned fund balance to just over 5 a.5%. Then back up the year 2024 up to about 6 and a half% which was the first year that we introduced uh the concept of reserves for our capital budgeting. putting aside money now every year so we can fund projects that we have planned for without borrowing money. Um and then unfortunately um this year we have dipped back down to uh 6%. Um anyway the um the ultimate goal here though is um to build and sustain the unassigned fund balance at eight at 10% 10% minimum in accordance with GFA standards. That way we have enough in reserve in case we need to borrow and not borrow but need to utilize some funding for an emergency that pops up or to fund um projects that we have
015planned for. Okay, on to grand list. Here we are. Overall, the grand list grew a minimal 0.02% um about $459,000. Motor vehicles experienced the um greatest percentage increase at 3.6% or just over $8 million in uh in uh value. Um and personal property experienced the greatest drop in value of decreasing 2.2% 2% or $4 million. That was primarily due to uh Connecticut Pharmaceuticals not filing their personal property um claims um in prior years until this year which accounted for almost $3 million of that four million. And real estate experience a very slight increase of 0.15% or $3.64 million in value. Okay, moving on to uh debt. Overall, debt is down almost uh $19,000. 025%. So, let's look at uh this situation. This graph shows an annual shows annual debt payments from 2026 down to 2042.
016Um so by 2041 we town would have paid uh $80 million in principle in interest payments on referendum borrowing items over the years. The good news is that by annual debt payment should be zero unless of course we borrow in between now and then which you know is probable. Correct. But you know it's something to look forward to. on to revenue highlights. Non- tax revenue basically uh state grants are increasing. Uh ECS grants uh we will be increasing by $666,428. The uh pilot program will be increasing by almost $332,000. Townro aid will be increasing by $129,000. The motor vehicle transition grant um will be increased to uh 200 we'll be getting $234,600. Um the uh surplus revenue sharing grant we will not be uh getting this year. Um so we'll be down 2 almost $221,000
017and that is because our proposed increase exceeds the uh state cap which I think is around 6% or so. Um our projection for uh revenue from building permits uh has been lowered uh by $360,000. We want to be more conservative in this budget than we were last year. Some of the projects that we were hoping to be built were not built. Recycling, we're looking at an increase of $45,000 for a total um increase from non-revenue uh sources of $826,245. some revenue highlights. Of course, our largest um source of revenue is from uh property tax which uh shows in in a proposed increase of 8.7%. Um state grants, we're looking at almost 11% in state grants. Um investment income, we're are keeping a a level for this year. um licenses and inspect and permits were um
018as I just mentioned lowering our uh projections by almost 40%. Um charges for services will hold steady fines and forfeertures we'll be holding steady um and then other revenue you know minimal increase of $43,000 and transfer of funds. This is $200,000 which would be coming from the uh private police private duty and transferred to the uh pension payments. All this accounts for the proposed budget of 110,27,244 or an 8.38% increase. Okay, this particular slide is probably of most interest. It shows the uh mill rate uh impact, the proposed mill rate impact on a single family house and a vehicle. Um, so we have a home with a, let's say, a appraised value of $400,000 with an assessed value of $280,000. Um, same same value as this year, next year. The mill rate this year 30.24.
019The under the proposed um budget that we're looking at tonight, the mill rate would increase to 32.96 mills. The tax bill difference would be $762 per year, which is a 9% increase. Looking at a vehicle, about a $30,000 vehicle, we praise at around $21,000. Same mill rates, tax bills, pretty similar. We're looking at a $47 yearly increase in motor vehicle tax. So, if we combine the two, the House and the vehicle. We're looking at an increase of $89 per year and monthly difference per month of $67 difference of 8.9 almost 9% increase. On to a quick wrap-up. Proposed budget stands at 110,27,244. Increase in total budget 8.38%. The proposed mill rate for real estate and personal property is 32.96 mills. The mill increase for real estate and personal property is 2.72 mills. The proposed mill
020increase for motor vehicles which is capped by state is 32.46 mills and the proposed mill rate increase for motor vehicles 22.22 mills. So with that, a big thank you from the team and I will go back to my seat and uh listen to public comment. All right. Thank you, Rey. >> Thank you, Mona. >> Yes. And thank Mona. And thank all the rest of the team. Um the rest of Mona's team in finance. as I'm sure you look forward to this every year, but uh work hard on it for many months leading up till today and for the next couple months. Uh that being said, uh next portion of this meeting is public comment. This portion of the meeting is specifically set aside for comments from the public who are asked to limit their comments
021to two minutes. Any person interested in providing public comment via email should email public meetings.gov. gov prior to 400 p.m. on the day of the meeting to have their public comment read into the record. Do we have anybody that would like to speak? Please don't all don't all jump at once. Uh just step to the the front and offer your name and address for the record. >> Hi. Uh my name is uh Francis Shank and I live at 121 Pebble Brook Drive in Rocky Hill. Thank you everyone for being here. I see some people are missing. It's a shame. Uh thank you uh town manager for giving us the budget. Uh in my opinion, the budget for the uh school the schools is uh way too high. Um that's a shame that they need that
022much money. But uh I would never approve anything that high. I think we shouldn't even approve half of it. and uh and it's going to put a burden on the uh taxpayers I think Rocky Hill and uh it's not just a burden for this year everybody but it's a burden for the next 50 years or 100 years because it just doesn't go this year because it adds on to next year and adds on to the next year adds on to the next year and that's why I think you guys got to go back and look at the school budget and and cut a lot of off. That's all I got to say. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Yeah, jump up. It's all right. We'll get to everybody. So, good evening. Uh, my name is
023John Tunis. I live at 40 Deerfield Run. I've been a resident in town for the past 51 years. And I do want to uh commend the town manager for the detailed budget report uh and all the detail information in there, particularly the demographics that spread things out by age group and with the single family homes, all that kind of stuff I find very interesting. A far cry from what we had back in 1975, which was only like a 10-page budget. Anyways, I do feel however that 8.3% is unacceptable. Okay, it's uh in comparison to the US inflation rate over the past 3 years of less than 3%. So I don't know how we can justify going up uh 8.3%. I realize there's a lot of reasoning behind this uh mainly like mandated expenditures by the
024state and contractual requirements, but still it makes the town less affordable to live in. all these increases we talked $800 more a year that we're going to have to spend. Uh and that comes out of other budgets that people have with kids, grandkids, whatever. The money has to come from somewhere. Uh therefore, I believe that has come a time where we may have to start looking at implementing budget cuts and eliminate some desirable but perhaps un unessential town services. One item I think about is reasonable and appropriate pertains to our sanitary waste collection. I read about a month ago uh the director of public works identified that due to the increased vigilance of town residents in recycling and composting, the amount of household waste has been reduced to the point we're going to start transitioning
025to smaller green waste household uh containers to get picked up on a weekly basis. I suggest perhaps we keep the large ones and pick up every two weeks, okay? Not every week like we do with the the blue recycle containers. In doing so, we might be able to uh save some funds in that area. Uh and there's no impact on the town residents uh because the the small ones get filled up once a week. A large one get filled up once every two weeks. And that may provide some relief if we cut that service uh weekly service. Yes, we as residents demand quality service. We expect that, but we don't need to be pampered and I think we ought to start looking at some things that that we might have to kick in and if
026necessary, if we have a party or something like that, we have more that fill we could we can take a trip to the transfer station on Saturday morning. Uh, I just ask that when you look at these things in the budget in the coming weeks, please try to keep the town affordable to live in. Uh, and I wish you good luck with the budget. Thank you. My name is Reverend Kurt RH. I live at 1499 Silistine Highway. my public comment or what I want to know is what's going to be done with the budget for um speed cameras because I've seen too many close calls with kids or adults trying to cross the road here on Silistine Highway and almost getting run over by these idiot drivers that drive these cars that are think they're
027in the Fast and Furious movie or they're trying to turn around and catch that quick light before they um get any further. They It's just horrible to see this. Um I've seen these I've seen these kids try to drive by school buses and everything like that and these little kids are going to get hurt. Somebody's going to get hurt and um I think we should do something about that because it's just it's absolutely horri I've been I've been almost struck several times pulling out of my um living area or a restaurant or whatever it is on a silently stain highway. Um, I just think that it should be something should be done done about that and um just before somebody gets hurt or even tragically killed. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other comments? Anyone
028else? Going once. Do we do we have anything in writing? >> I do have four. >> Oh, great. Okay. Uh first uh is Daniela Rakamura. She says, "Dear members of the Rocky Hill Town Council, I am writing as a concerned Rocky Hill resident regarding the proposed 2627 budget and the significant mill rate increase being presented to taxpayers this year. According to the town uh according to the town's proposed budget documents, the total budget is increasing from 101,683,331 to 1102 uh 110,257,244, an increase of 8,573,913 or 8.43%. In addition, the mill rate is proposed to rise from 30.2 24 to 32.98, a 2.74 mil increase. This level of increase is extremely concerning for residents, particularly given that the town's own data shows that Rocky Hills overall grand list growth is essentially stagnant. The grand list comparison
029provided in the budget reflects a total increase of only 0.02%. With such minimal grand list growth, it is difficult to understand how the town believes it is reasonable or sustainable to increase spending at a rate more than 400 times higher than our tax base is growing. When the tax base is flat, the burden falls directly on homeowners and local businesses. And we all know when operating costs increase, services increase. The proposed budget also shows a sharp increase in the tax levy. Property taxation revenue is projected to rise from 88,450,456 to96,289,814 an increase of 7,749,358 or 8.75%. That is a major hit to taxpayers in a time when many residents are already struggling with rising costs of groceries, fuel, housing, and utilities. We are supposed to be making Rocky Hill more affordable, not less. What is
030especially frustrating is that much of this budget increase appears to be driven by the structural the structural spending growth rather than new services that residents can clearly see. The town's own breakdown shows that the largest driver of the mill rate increase is the board of education increase of $4,983,422 which accounts for 1.72 mills of the increase by itself. Additionally, the proposed budget reflects significant increases in employee benefit costs. Employee benefits rise from 7,7 sorry 7,77,335 to 8,143,557 a 15.07 increase in one year. The mill rate breakdown also identifies increases of $68,000 for health insurance, 44 uh $474,000 for pension funding, and $126,000 for other insurance costs. These types of increases raise serious concerns about long-term sustainability. If these costs continue to rise at this rate, Rocky Hill taxpayers will be facing significant mill rate increases
031year after year. The town is also increasing capital spending substantially. Town capital rises from 1,340,976 to1,94,494, a 42.02 increase. While some capital projects are necessary, it is hard to justify adding large discretionary capital spending in the same year that taxpayers are being asked to absorb one of the most significant mill rate increases in recent memory. Another concern is the town's revenue projections show a major decline in building permits. license licenses and permits dropped from $997,700 to $637,700, a decrease of $360,000 or 36.08%. This is troubling because it suggests that the development activity may be slowing, which would further weaken the town's ability to grow the tax base in the future. With all this in mind, I am asking the town council to provide a clear public explanation of the following. Number one, why is an
0328.4 43 budget increase being proposed when granless growth is essentially flat. Two, what specific steps are being taken to control employee benefit costs, which increased over 15%. Three, what cost-saving measures were explored before proposing a nearly 3 mill increase? Four, why are capital expenditures increasing so sharply during a year of major tax increases? and five, what is the town's long-term strategy to grow the grand list and reduce reliance on repeated mill rate increases? I respectfully urge the town council to reconsider the size of this budget increase and explore meaningful reductions in cost containment measures. Rocky Hill residents deserve a reasonable budget that prioritizes essential services while recognizing that taxpayers have limits. Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope the town council will take these concerns seriously and provide transparency and accountability to residents
033before approving such a significant increase. Again, that's Daniela Rakamura of 159 Brook Street. Second is uh Kate ShraMM, 40 Orchard Orchard Street. My name is Kate ShraMM and I am submitting a comment to the town council session tonight. I realize the difficult position that all of our elected officials are in at this moment in trying to find the necessary funding to make the town work for all of its residents. I ask you to consider how to restore cuts from the pre uh the previous administration's budget that resulted in underserving our students, our library patrons, and Rocky Hill residents in general. There are valuable ideas that have been proposed to raise town revenue that don't solely rely on taxing our homeowners. I urge you to act boldly, try new strategies alongside the time-t tested ones and
034invest in our town. Many thanks, Kate. Third, dear counselors, this is from Derek and Mara Kalin of 116 Ridgewood Drive. We write you, I'm sorry, we write to ask you to fully fund the Rocky Hill Schools and Library budgets. As the cost of providing critical services has risen, the budget has not kept pace. Important programs have been cut and teachers and librarians have been saddled with an everinccreasing workload. This year, our son attended Moser School and unlike students in neighboring towns and in previous years, he did not start learning a foreign language. His record high classroom size inhibits the teachers ability to offer the differentiated support that students require to excel. Our family moved to Rocky Hill in part because of its excellent ex education system. That quality requires investment to be sustained. Sincerely, Derek
035and Mea. And lastly, from Nicole Petraello, no address given. My name is Nicole and I've lived in Rocky Hill for almost six years. Over the summer, I wrote an opinion piece that described a little bit about my experience teaching and why I believe it's so vital to invest in our public schools. Now that it's time for Rocky Hill to think about what to prioritize in our town's budget for the upcoming fiscal year, I think those words have value. Again, as a former classroom teacher, I know firsthand how critical funding is to the success of both students and teachers. In my classroom of 20 students, many required extra support. Whether that meant help focusing during lessons, guidance with assignments, or simply someone to listen. I wanted to give each child the indivi individualized attention they deserved.
036But with one teacher and limited resources, it was impossible to keep up with their diverse needs. Teachers don't just deliver lessons. They juggle dozens of roles at once. In a single 45minute math block, I might be guiding one student through long division, helping another decode a word problem, reminding a third to stay on task, and calming a fourth who is overwhelmed and near tears. At the same time, a student might ask to use the bathroom. Another might be struggling with a Chromebook that won't log in. and two others could be having a conflict that needs immediate attention. Teaching often feels like trying to run 10 parallel lessons at once. All of this happens on top of the hours of preparation and follow-up that make the day possible. Designing lessons that reach every learner regardless of
037their level, gathering materials, grading assignments, and staying in touch with parents about their child's progress or concerns. Teaching doesn't end when the bell rings. It continues long after the students go home. Teaching is such a rewarding job, but without enough staffing, support, or resources, it becomes an impossible task. Imagine a doctor's office where one physician was responsible for seeing 20 patients simultaneously, each with different needs, some requiring requiring constant attention. That's what many classrooms feel like. The district in which I was teaching expected outstanding results and strong test scores, but could not provide the staffing time or resources necessary to make those expectations realistic. Teachers often face this impossible equation. Do more with less year after year. It is not fair to continue to ask that of our teachers in Rocky Hill. If we as
038a town pride ourselves in having quality schools, then it's time to act. We cannot keep cutting vital programs or allowing class sizes to grow to 25 at the elementary level or let another year go by without temperature control in every classroom. We need to close these funding gaps so that our schools and by extension our community can thrive. When schools are properly funded, they provide the support that makes quality teaching and learning possible. Essential supplies, engaging curriculum, pair of professionals, and specialists to share the workload and time and resources teachers need to meet each student's need are essential. All of these investments directly affect the quality of education children receive and the stability of the teaching profession itself. Supporting our schools isn't charity. It's an investment in ourselves and our town's future. Knowledge is power.
039And when we withhold resources from our schools, we chip away at that power. We limit our children's futures and in turn our community's potential. I am a resident who supports increasing the education budget because our teachers and young learners deserve it. Every dollar allocated to education ripples outward, shaping not just the lives of students and teachers, but the well-being and success of our entire community. Thank you for your time, Nicole. Thank you. Was that all four? That's all four, right? Okay. Um, well, thank you once again to the town manager and all the staff. Uh does anybody have any any directions or anything any questions that we want them to prepare for budget workshop or anything that we come up with tonight thoughts? All right. Well, the next budget meeting will be Thursday and that
040is for um the departments of the town manager's office, economic development, HR and finance. >> No, library. >> Library. Okay, my apologies. And we will have a number of meetings after that each for these spec for specific topics either one or two departments. And uh I would encourage everybody to look on Rocky Hills website. Each of the uh budget workshop dates has the specific uh topics that are being covered in that meeting. They're available right there. And um we've also tried to make sure that that calendar is um on the front of the website as well, so everybody can look that up. >> 5:30. All the other ones are 5:30. Correct. All right. Okay. So, come home straight from work. Uh get some takeout. Have have a sandwich in the back while we're meeting. Um
041with that, I >> Sorry, I just looks like he has something to say. >> I was hoping I was hoping you would reiterate. >> We really really encourage members of the public, residents, to provide public comment throughout this process. Uh each one of our workshops allows for public comment. We we want to hear from you. We want to hear what you'd like to see out of this budget. Thank you. >> Yes, we had some great feedback tonight. So, we look forward to, believe it or not, we look forward to hearing that continue to come. With that, I will entertain a motion. >> Motion to >> adjurnn. Second. >> All in favor? I >> I. >> All right. Thank you everybody. Have a great evening.