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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFY25 MPOJC Budget FY25 Budget and Financial Forecast Adopted January 31, 2024 by the: MPOJC Urbanized Area Policy Board MPOJC Rural Policy Board Date: January 24, 2024 To: Urbanized Area Policy Board Rural Policy Board From: Kent Ralston, Executive Director Re: FY25 MPOJC Budget and Financial Forecast The Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County (MPOJC) is the designated planning organization for Johnson County, Iowa. Assistance is provided to member agencies in the program areas of transportation planning, administration, and small communities planning assistance by virtue of a 28E agreement. The MPOJC Urbanized Area and Rural Policy Boards have authority over the policies and work programs of the organization. The MPOJC website (www.mpojc.org) provides general information about the organization, published technical reports, agendas, and meeting minutes of all public meetings. MPOJC is organized administratively under the City of Iowa City and staff members are subject to all rights and benefits afforded to City of Iowa City employees. Non-administrative staff are organized under the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). MPOJC staff also serve as staff in the City of Iowa City Neighborhood and Development Services Department. Because MPOJC is organized as a division of the City of Iowa City, MPOJC follows City of Iowa City administrative and personnel polic ies. This overall structure allows for cost-effective sharing of expenditures and services. The focus of MPOJC remains to fulfill federal and state requirements necessary for receiving both formula and discretionary state and federal funding and to produce a wide variety of transportation studies for member agencies. These studies are intended to result in better information on which to base local policy and project programming decisions. The proposed FY25 MPOJC Budget and Financial Forecast reflects the program of services, policies, and staffing approved by the Board. The overall FY25 budget reflects a 2.75% increase from the FY24 budget and is primarily due to adjustments in salaries and benefits. The remaining budget is largely the same as previous years with respect to technical and professional services, travel and education, and software. As in previous years, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is scheduled to contribute a large portion of the overall MPO budget in FY25 – the anticipated Iowa DOT contribution is $280,000 which is a $50,000 increase from FY24. MPOJC also carries reserve funds to buffer against unexpected budget increases, or potential loss of funding. This continues to be important due to ongoing uncertainty of federal funding. MPOJC continues to employ 1-3 planning interns funded by the University of Iowa. The University of Iowa’s $23,817 assessment will be used to fund intern expenses throughout the year. If this amount is not fully expended during the year, the balance becomes available for other expenses. As in the last budget, the FY25 budget is explicit in showing additional assessments specific to Iowa City due to staff time devoted solely to Iowa City specific duties. These duties include traffic engineering services, administration of the traffic calming program, participation in planning committees, review of rezoning and subdivision applications, and other special projects. The budget also reflects capital expenses for the replacement of traffic counters, traffic counting software, and GIS software to maintain our mapping and visualization abilities. The traffic counters are used for the traffic analysis data collection program and are subjected to extreme conditions. It is important that there be a regular program of replacement for this equipment. For our traffic forecasting capabilities, we are proposing to continue to upgrade our travel demand model software to be consistent with the Iowa DOT state-wide travel demand model. Following is a summary of the proposed Budget and Financial Forecast and FY25 assessments. Assessment figures now use the available 2020 decennial Census population data as required by the MPO Bylaws. MPOJC Budget FY25 – FY27 MPOJC is designated by the Governor of the State of Iowa as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Iowa City Urbanized Area. The MPOJC Transportation Planning Division must fulfill the state and federal requirements of the 3-C transportation planning process. This process is required of all urbanized areas to maintain eligibility for grant programs and transportation operations funds of the United States Department of Transportation and the Iowa Department of Transportation. The Administration Division consists of a half-time Executive Director, and a .2 FTE Administrative Secretary. The Administration Division provides oversight and support to the staff of MPOJC. The Executive Director supervises all MPOJC personnel, coordinates the budget process and the preparation of division work programs. As MPOJC staff also serve the City of Iowa City Neighborhood and Development Services Department, this budget reflects Iowa City specific funding for 0.5 FTE Administration and 1.0 FTE Transportation Planner for Iowa City duties. 1Forecasts assume a 3% increase 2Student interns are funded entirely by the University of Iowa FY24 FY25 FY26 FY27 Budgeted Proposed Forecast1 Forecast1 Salaries and Benefits $665,251 $690,100 $710,803 $732,127 Technical and Professional Services & Maintenance, Travel and Education $70,416 $68,219 $70,266 $72,374 Operating Costs;including office supplies,traffic counting and mapping equipment/software $10,195 $8,700 $8,961 $9,230 Subtotal $745,862 $767,019 $790,030 $813,730 University of Iowa Student Interns 2 $23,817 $23,817 $23,817 $23,817 TOTAL $769,679 $790,836 $813,847 $837,547 Expenditures Summary of FY25 Assessments Note: Figures do not include specific funding for Iowa City Neighborhood & Development Services, equivalent to 0.5 Administration Budget ($89,250) and 1.0 FTE Transportation Planning ($147,130). MPOJC Assessment Explanation 1. Assessment for Rural entities is 1% of the overall MPO assessment. Rural Board communities utilize MPO planning services but are not eligible for MPO grant funds. 2. 0.5 FTE of Administration Division and 1.0 FTE of Transportation Planning Division are for Iowa City related functions and are not reflected in assessments to other communities. 3. This budget does not include East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) assessments. 4. Assessment figures may not reflect exact population percentages shown due to rounding.