Potential $50,000 Warming Shelter contribution sparks debate | #citycouncil

“I’m telling you, when you open up this Pandora’s box, there’s a whole lot of agencies that are going to be here asking why they have never had that opportunity,” Scott said. “How do we pick winners and losers? I don’t see this as a city function, I never have. In the old days, we had the county home. That’s a county function to provide this service. The county’s not putting any money in this.” 

At the City Council’s Jan. 22 meeting, Shayla Moore, the Warming Shelter’s executive director, asked the council to allocate funding to the only emergency shelter in the city in the next budget year, which begins July 1. She said the shelter’s closure will become “a harsh reality” if additional funding cannot be secured.

Currently, around 140 people are staying at the Warming Shelter, 910 Nebraska St., on a nightly basis. The shelter has been operating for about 11 years, primarily on donations. The nonprofit’s monthly budget is around $70,000. 

“It’s a public health care situation that we have to deal with,” Councilman Matthew O’Kane, who sits on the shelter’s governing board, said. “If the shelter closes down, there’s nowhere for people to use the restroom in the downtown area. So they go on the sidewalk. They go on the street. They go behind a building, because there’s nowhere for them to relieve themselves.” 

Some residents prefer their tax dollars not go to the Warming Shelter, according to Councilwoman Julie Schoenherr. Schoenherr said the city’s Neighborhood Services department “works diligently to help anyone who’s homeless.” In 2023, police and fire responded to the Warming Shelter more than 900 times, she said. 

“I don’t know what the dollar amount attached to it is, but I imagine it’s substantial,” she said of public safety costs. “So, I feel like we do support. We’re not saying we don’t like (the Warming Shelter). We’re not saying anything like that. But we have to look at what’s fair and where the dollars are spent and who they’re donated to.” 

Bob Sheehan, the Warming Shelter’s board president, said the consequence of the shelter not being funded will be increased calls to the city for services.

“I don’t know if the neighborhood network would be able to deal with the issue that closing the shelter may bring to the city,” he said. “So, we’re trying to figure out how to sustain ourselves after this year. But at least for this year, we’d like to make a plea to you.”

Over the past three years, Councilman Alex Watters said the city has approached the Warming Shelter with suggestions of grants the nonprofit could apply for. He said, to his knowledge, Warming Shelter staff didn’t take advantage of those funding opportunities. He also said police, fire and EMS are “very, very frustrated” with the call volume concerning the Warming Shelter. 

“To say that they’re tired of supporting that and going there for calls of service is an understatement,” he said. “They’re there to make sure that they’re being safe and, you know, that they’re cared for just as well. But it is a great expense to taxpayers for that time.” 

Watters asked Sheehan what a $50,000 contribution from the city would really do, when that amount doesn’t even cover a month’s worth of operating expenses. Sheehan responded that if the city takes the lead with a contribution, then the Warming Shelter can go to the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors and neighboring city councils for contributions.

“We have something to go to other cities with. That you’re taking the lead means a lot. That the city is committed to the homeless says a lot,” Sheehan said. “And so we can go to Sergeant Bluff, South Sioux. We can go different places and say, ‘Sioux City’s taking the lead. You have to participate.'”

Scott said he wishes organizations who want money from the City of Sioux City would go to other cities and get a commitment first. Sheehan responded, “But you are the leader.”

“No. We’re the leader in everything, and that’s not the way it should be around here. Once they hear we give, historically, the other communities don’t give,” Scott said. 

Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore agreed that more communities in the area should be contributing. He said he heard a person from Sheldon, Iowa, was dropped off at the Warming Shelter. 

“Sheldon should be contributing to the Warming Shelter. I’ve said for a few years now, we do need to get other communities in Siouxland brought to the table and start paying their contribution,” he said. 

Scott asked all city department heads to see where they could potentially cut 5% from their budgets and, then, report back. 

He made the request near the beginning of the study session, which was held at City Hall. Top city staff are recommending a $9.4 million, or 4.8%, increase in the operating budget for the coming fiscal year. When debt service is included, the operating budget totals $249,424,670, an increase of 4.9% from the fiscal year that ends June 30.

The operating budget is used to fund a wide variety of services. Public safety, which includes the police and fire departments, accounts for the bulk of the budget’s general fund, or 31%. The next largest segments are 18% for utilities and 16% for public works.

The proposed property tax levy is around $17.15 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable valuation, up about 8.8% from the previous year’s levy of around $15.76.

Scott called the proposed levy increase “bothersome” and asked department heads to mull where they could potentially cut 5%.

“We have not asked that of any department for a long time. I think it’s time we really look at it,” Scott said. “When you look at a training budget of half a million dollars, that’s $6,000 almost an employee. I mean, I don’t know where we can spend that kind of money. I just think some of those things, it’s time we look at them. I don’t know of any organization that spends $6,000 an employee on training. I can’t even imagine how that could be.”

Moore remarked that he likes the idea of a budget review, while Schoenherr noted not every department may be able to achieve a 5% budget cut.

Watters said in response to Scott’s request, “In today’s day and age, I don’t know how in the world you expect that, but hope springs eternal for the mayor. I think we can look at difficult things.”

Due to changes in the rollback, residential city taxes per $100,000 of assessed valuation would decrease by $73 to $712. Commercial and industrial city property taxes per $100,000 of assessed valuation would increase by $125 to $1,544.

In 2013, the Iowa Legislature made reductions to certain property taxes. They also promised “backfill” or funding to cities, counties and schools, whose revenue was impacted by the cuts. In FY 2021, the Legislature decided to phase-out the backfill. The backfill will be completely gone in 2030, according to the Iowa League of Cities.

Even when taking inflation into account, City Finance Director Teresa Fitch told the council each resident would still see a decrease of $26 based on the proposed levy.

During the study session, the council expressed interest in contracting off-duty Woodbury County Sheriff’s deputies to police the city’s parks, rather than hiring a full-time parks enforcement officer.

Parks and Recreation Director Matt Salvatore told the council the best use of funds, in his opinion, is contracting off-duty deputies. The annual cost of off-duty deputies is $50,000 versus $101,645 for a full-time parks enforcement officer. Salvatore said his department would coordinate which parks the deputies would be at and when.

“It would be after-hour work in the parks, probably together at the same time. And, to be honest, after-hours stuff on the trails are not a big problem. It’s mostly the parks,” Salvatore said. “I think at first, it’s just dependent on need. So, if we know we’re having issues at a particular park, we send them there.”

Schoenherr said she likes the idea of the deputies, because she thinks it will be safer and they’ll be “viewed as having a lot more authority” than a parks enforcement officer. 

“They’re already trained. They already have equipment. I think starting here is the way to go,” Salvatore said.

Watters asked Salvatore to look into having off-duty deputies on trails in utility task vehicles (UTVs) or on bikes.

“For me, that will be the most presence, having someone actually on the trails, rather than just in the parking lots,” he said. “One thing that I think about that I appreciate that they do with the trail enforcement in Okoboji is it’s also about having water bottles to be able to pass out to people along the trail system and, then, also picking up trash. Usually they have a trash bag in the back of the UTV and will try to pick up stuff along the riverfront or along the trail.” 

Council members will vote on budget items during a March 6 wrap up session and approve the budget during their April 15 weekly meeting.