Item 1. Draft Meeting Minutes 20260415 — original pdf

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ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026 The Economic Prosperity Commission convened in a regular meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at Austin City Hall, Boards and Commissions room #1101, 301 west 2nd street. Chair Gonzales called the Economic Prosperity Commission Meeting to order at 6:35 P.M. Commissioners in Attendance: Aaron Gonzales, Chair Raquel Valdez Sanchez, Vice Chair Michael Nahas Zain Pleuthner Jacob Randall Kevin Roberts Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Aditi Joshi Nicole Tomaszewski Ofelia Zapata Shakeel Rashed PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Economic Prosperity Commission regular meeting on February 25, 2026 and the Special Called meeting on March 16, 2026. The minutes from the Economic Prosperity Commission regular meeting on February 25, 2026 were approved on Commissioner Pleuthner’s motion, Vice Chair Valdez Sanchez’s second on a 8-0 vote. Commissioners Rashed and Zapata were off the dais. The minutes from the Economic Prosperity Commission special called meeting on March 16, 2026 were approved on Commissioner Pleuthner’s motion, Commissioner Nahas’ second on an 8-0 vote. Commissioners Rashed and Zapata were off the dais. ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026 DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 4. Approve a revised version of Recommendation 20251119-010: Pensions and OPEB Benefits based on additional information received from stakeholders. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Nahas: The amendment was to insert the following paragraph as [11.] after [10.], as an additional paragraph at the end of the recommendation. To avoid similar problems in the future, the residents of Austin should be informed when the City is losing money and taxes will have to be increased in the future to pay it back. The amount per ratepayer should be included in the City Budget’s “Taxpayer Impact Statement” page. One potential way to calculate that the City is losing money is the change “total governmental activities net position” for the most recent year, but the City should explore better ways to calculate it. The amendment was withdrawn by Commissioner Nahas. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Nahas and seconded by Commissioner Pleuthner. The amendment was to insert the following paragraph as [11.] after [10.], as an additional paragraph at the end of the recommendation. “Once each decade, the City of Austin should adjust pension retirement ages for new employees. Medicine keeps making advances and life spans get longer. This predictably increases the cost of benefits, which last as long as the employee lives. This known effect should be accounted for on a regular basis. Once a decade, the City should evaluate data on lifespans and adjust retirement ages for new employees to keep the ratio of benefits costs to wages stable.” The following amendment to the amendment was made by Commissioner Pleuthner and seconded by Commissioner Nahas. The amendment to the amendment was to strike the first sentence of the proposed amendment, strike “adjust retirement ages for new employees” from the last sentence and replace with “consider how”, and to insert “for new employees” at the end of the last sentence. “Once each decade, the City of Austin should adjust pension retirement ages for new employees. Medicine keeps making advances and life spans get longer. This predictably increases the cost of benefit s, which last as long as the employee lives. This known effect should be accounted for on a regular basis. Once a decade, the City should evaluate data on lifespans and adjust retirement ages for new employees consider how to keep the ratio of benefits costs to wages stable for new employees. “ The amendment to the amendment was approved on an 8-0 vote. Chair Gonzales and Commissioner Zapata abstained. The amendment was approved on a 6-0 vote. Chair Gonzales, Vice Chair Valdez Sanchez, Commissioner Roberts and Commissioner Zapata abstained. 2 ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026 The following amendment was made by Commissioner Nahas and seconded by Commissioner Pleuthner. The amendment was to insert the words “and liability layers” in the first sentence of [6.]. “The City should voluntarily pay-off pensions’ Legacy Liability and liability layers faster than is required, when possible, in order to reduce large interest payments, get more from our investments and lower residents’ taxes, while preserving ability to meet community needs.” The amendment was approved unanimously on a 10-0 vote. The recommendation was approved as amended on Commissioner Joshi’s motion, Commissioner Pleuthner’s second on a 9-0 vote. Vice Chair Valdez Sanchez abstained. 5. Approve an impact assessment framework and recommendation approval guidelines for the Economic Prosperity Commission. Withdrawn without objection. 6. Conduct officer elections for the Chair and Vice Chair. Chair Gonzales was elected as Chair on Commissioner Joshi’s motion on a 9-1 vote. Commissioner Nahas voted no. Commissioner Randall was elected as Vice Chair on Vice Chair Valdez Sanchez’s motion on a 10-0 vote. DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. Presentation on an Economic Snapshot of Central Texas. Presentation by Chair Gonzales. Withdrawn without objection. 3. Discussion of priority initiatives related to the use of Artificial Intelligence as it relates to construction and job creation. Discussed. FUTURE ITEMS Discussion on the use of an Impact Assessment Framework Discussion on potential working groups ADJOURNMENT Chair Gonzales adjourned the meeting at 8:46 p.m. on Vice Chair Valdez Sanchez’s motion, Commissioner Zapata’s second, on a unanimous 10-0 vote. 3