First Quarter Strategic Plan Update
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FIRST QUARTER STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4 OVERALL PROGRESS .............................................................................................................................. 4 HIGHLIGHTS .............................................................................................................................................. 5 SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM ....................................................................................................................... 5 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ............................................................................................................................... 5 FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN/MODEL ......................................................................................................... 5 UTILITY RATES ........................................................................................................................................... 6 GREEN RIBBON BEAUTIFICATION ................................................................................................................ 6 ANNA LIBRARY ........................................................................................................................................... 6 WHAT’S NEXT ............................................................................................................................................ 7 GOAL 1: GROWING ANNA ECONOMY ................................................................................................ 7 GOAL 2: GREAT PLACE TO LIVE ........................................................................................................11 GOAL 3: SUSTAINABLE ANNA COMMUNITY ..................................................................................15 GOAL 4: HIGH PERFORMING PROFESSIONAL CITY ....................................................................19 3 Introduction In April of 2020, the City of Anna underwent its annual strategic planning process. Under four encompassing strategic goals, 50 broad actions were identified and a total of 286 steps were outlined to complete them. This document serves to update the City Council on Strategic Plan progress on a quarterly basis, documenting comprehensive updates from Council approval of the Strategic Plan in May to the end of July. To gather these results, the City Manager’s Office met with each department to better understand progress on each step as well as whether or not the items were expected to be completed by the date outlined in the Strategic Plan. Below are the overall results. Progress for each action and individual step are detailed in the goal subsections. Overall Progress No Longer Relevant, 1% Progress for the strategic plan items is cat- Completed, 29% egorized in two ways: how far along each Not Started, 45% item is (pie chart to the right) and whether each is being completed on schedule (pie chart at the bottom). What has been accomplished so far? Out of the 286 individual steps compris- ing the Strategic Plan, 82 are complete, 71 are in progess, and 130 have yet to start. One notable success so far is that nearly half of the items for Goal 3: Creating a Sustainable Anna Community Through Planned, Managed Growth are finished a Many of the items that have not been Significant Progress, 8% started will begin at their designated Initial Progress, 5% times. Moderate Progress, 12% No Longer Relevant, 1% Are we meeting the deadlines estab- Behind or Moved Back, 25% Completed, 29% lished in the Strategic Plan? The City of Anna is on-track with almost exactly 75% of action items outlined by the Strategic Plan with 29% of items already being complete. COVID-19, staff transitions, and delays from external stakeholders have had an effect on the progress of the completion of the remaining items. Some items, like city social functions related to HR, will resume progress once the city can commence planning for large social gatherings. On Time or Ahead, 45% 4 Highlights In this section, a handful of top and high priority items for both City Council and City Management are highlighted. These items include the recent small business program designed to support businesses in the duration and aftermath of COVID-19, the ongoing process of creating three pivotal city plans, the recent adjustment of city utility rates, the ongoing Green Ribbon median beautification project, and the future Anna Library. Small Business Support/Assistance Program Grants and Direction: The City of Anna COVID-19 Recovery Grant Program was administered in two phases using funding from Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In April, the City Council and Community Development Corporation (CDC) Board recognized the economic strain the pandemic caused local small businesses. The first phase stimulus program provided $5,000 grants to 18 entities. Of the 28 applications received in the first phase, eight did not meet the set eligibility and two applicants withdrew. In order to include service industry businesses (or those organizations that did not pay sales tax) as well as nonprofits who were also negatively affected by the pandemic, the City Council removed several of the -el igibility requirements and a second phase was released. Phase two resulted in an additional 18 $5,000 grants to local businesses in Anna. A total of $180,000 in grant funds has been injected back into the local economy, supporting Anna business and organizations assisting Anna neighbors. Anna Comprehensive Plan, Downtown Master Plan, and Parks, Trails and Open Space Master Plan Devel- opment: The consultant team led by Kimley-Horn and As- sociates has made great progress since the project kickoff in May 2020. The overall process includes four phases. Phase one is focused on engaging Anna’s neighbors and will continue until the project is complete in April of 2021. As a part of this task, the consultant team has established and launched a project website, Anna2050.com. The team has facilitated a Comprehensive Plan Advisory Task Force meeting in June and interviews with key stakeholders in July. Phase 2 is focused on Data Collection and Analysis including Demographic and Market Projections, a Parks Inventory, Benchmarking and Needs Assessment, and a State of the City Input Session with City Staff. Most of the tasks for this phase are underway or have been completed. This phase will culminate with a Joint Workshop of the Advisory Task Force, EDC, CDC, Parks Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, and City Council in mid-August. Following that meeting, alternative future scenarios will be prepared for Advisory Task Force review and comment, and the consultant team will begin Phase 3 which will focus on the overall future vision framework and plan elements. This Fall, Anna Neighbors will have the oppor- tunity to provide additional feedback to the plans at the Anna Harvest Fest, and additional input sessions will be held with the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Task Force in October and a second joint session with the Advisory Task Force, EDC, CDC Parks Board, Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council in December of this year. Five-Year Financial Plan/Model With Projections: To meet the goals of the Strategic Plan, the FY2021 Budget process began with the development of a long-term financial planning model in February. The FY2021 Budget is being proposed in the context of a long-term financial plan for the General Fund. The plan has established assumptions for revenues, expenditures, and changes to fund balance over a five-year horizon. Some of those assumptions include increases of ten percent in appraised value while maintaining the property tax, a seven percent increase in sales taxes each year, and continued funding of the employee compensation plan. Going forward, the assumptions will be evaluated each year as part of the budget development process. 5 Utility Rate Study and Direction: Previously, it had been over five years since the water and sanitary sewer rates in the City of Anna had been updated. During that time, the water purchase and sewer treatment costs imposed on the City by outside entities have increased by more than 40%. These increased costs have not been passed on to rate payers. During the rate freeze, the City Utility Fund had been seeing decreased revenues and putting the fund in danger of becoming insolvent. In July, the City of Anna completed a utility rate study with the assistance of NewGen Strategies. This process included the review of all utility costs incurred by the City, all personnel, mainte- nance, and operations costs, along with the anticipated rising costs of purchasing wholesale water from the Greater Texoma Utility Authority (GTUA) and the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). In addition, the sewer treatment costs the City pays to NTMWD and the sewer transportation costs the City pays to the City of Melissa were also evaluated as part of the rate study. The City will be conducting a Telephone Town Hall on Tuesday, August 18, to answer questions from neighbors regarding the new utility rates. Green Ribbon Median Beautification Project Con- struction: The City has partnered with TxDOT to construct landscaping improvements on FM 455 at SH 5 and US 75 to beautify the corridor. Pacheco Koch completed the design for the project. TxDOT made the decision to combine Anna’s project in a larger bid with Prosper and completed