Capital Improvement Budget Process Study

The Project Description and Consultant

The Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee selected and awarded Wilder Research a professional services agreement to conduct up to two (2) research and evaluation projects beyond those that Council or City staff can provide to examine program and financial evaluations designed to improve the timing of delivery of services with the goal of building greater public trust and satisfaction with city services and to provide reports with recommendations to the city for improvements to city services and processes.

Wilder Research is a nationally respected nonprofit research and evaluation group. The organization work with nonprofits, community leaders, government agencies, foundations and policymakers throughout Minnesota and the country to gather and interpret facts and trends, help them uncover and understand issues affecting their communities and how best to address them, and inform action that improves lives and communities.

The Project Scope

The second of two research and evaluation projects has been identified. The Audit Committee members and advisors agreed that an audit of Saint Paul’s Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) process that the city use to fund the construction and maintenance of City infrastructure (i.e., streets, bridges, libraries, parks, recreation centers, and other public facilities) would benefit from a follow-up examination since its last process change during the 2018-19 cycle for the 2020-2021 and future cycles.

Wilder will examine existing process and focus on three key areas:

Equity and inclusion: Budgeting decisions reflect the city’s commitment to equity and to identify ways to invite more voices to the table and ensure investments are distributed equitably throughout the city.
Strategic investments: Capital investments all feed into a larger, more comprehensive strategic framework that takes advantage of data and ensures maximum return on investment.
Fiscal responsibility: Existing infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and sidewalks – as well as existing parks and libraries facilities – are well-tended. Maintenance is prioritized.

Objective

The objective of this study is to examine two overarching questions:

Is the current community-project CIB process working as intended with the changes in place?
Is the current community-project CIB process effective?

The Saint Paul City Audit Committee is working with Wilder Research to understand how the community-project CIB process is working, whether the process is effective, and what improvements in the process might be considered. Wilder will assess the process from the lens of various stakeholders and make recommendations around continued improvement. The study will focus on three key areas that address the process questions, community engagement questions and equity questions:

Process Questions

How did the CIB process shift from its previous delivery?
- What does success look like now? What did it look like then?
What are the characteristics of the current process (including participants, investments, committee members, applications, distribution of spend)?
What process steps could be improved for the next CIB round?
What communications support for the variety of partners/owners is needed in the future?

Community Engagement Questions

What are the overarching goals for the CIB process related to engagement?
Who is ultimately accountable for the CIB community engagement approach? What changes might need to be pursued in the future?
- How is ownership currently shared and how should it be shared between the Departments (including Public Works and Parks & Recreation), Mayor’s Office, OFS, and the community?
How are CIB committee members acting as community ambassadors? How might the City better support their work?
How are district councils and other organizations in the City involved in the community engagement work?
What additional tools would help with CIB community engagement?
How can the application process continue to be adapted to meet City and community needs?
How can the City balance a data-driven approach and ongoing needs around community engagement?

Equity Questions

In what ways could the CIB process be adapted to focus funding more equitably?
- What does it mean for the community process funding to be equitable?
How might the CIB process be evolved to move from a complaint-based or a process-knowledge-based orientation?
How can everyone assembling the CIB process work toward centering community more in the process so that it does not feel as much like an ‘insider’ process?
- Where are there opportunities for departments to work together to support the community process?

Scope of Work

To apply only to the specific focus areas identified above.

Wilder will use the following methods:

Group interview and key informant interviews with OFS staff

Ongoing meetings with OFS staff to explore questions
Interviews to be scheduled

OFS staff analysis, data sharing

Ongoing meetings with OFS staff to explore analysis, data
Review of previous study and the intended outcomes of refreshed process
Comparison of current year’s results with refreshed process intentions

Key informant interviews with key Mayoral office staff (1, possibly 2)

Interviews to be scheduled

Key informant interviews with key CIB committee members (3-4)

Interviews to be scheduled
- Aim for 1-2 longer term (or former) members, a couple of newer members

Key informant interviews with applicants (6-8)

Interviews to be scheduled
- Include successful and unsuccessful applicants
- Include ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ applicants
- Note: OFS will do outreach and connection to Wilder Research

Key informant interviews with city council members (2-3)

Interviews to be scheduled
- Identify CC members with a point of view

Department Partner:

Office of Financial Services (OFS)

Timing:

Wilder Research is aiming to deliver a report to the Audit Committee of the City Council of St. Paul by May 2025.

Team Background

Wilder Research Team

Biography

Heather Britt joined Wilder in June of 2022. As executive director of Wilder Research, Heather’s role is to help ensure research and evaluation efforts yield insight and impact across Saint Paul, Ramsey County, and Minnesota. Prior to joining Wilder, Heather served in leadership positions at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Minnesota Hospital Association, and Allina Health. Heather also spent time at the Minnesota Department of Education and the Urban Coalition. Heather’s research interests range from understanding the environments where young people thrive, the most beneficial ways for systems and organizations to work together to support worker wellbeing, to the influence of systems on health equity. Her largest research study to date was focused on community health workers in late life care and ways healthcare systems can better support individuals and their families in their last few months and years of life. Heather will serve as a Project Lead on City of Saint Paul projects; coordinating partnership and communication with City and Audit Committee team members; working with the research team to implement work plans; participating in primary and secondary data collection and analyses; and partnering on report and dissemination efforts. Heather has her doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota, her Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina, and her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. She lives in Saint Paul and has two children, both recent graduates of Central High School.

Biography

Chris Bray is an established evaluation professional and Licensed Psychologist with a history in leadership positions in St. Paul, both in county and state government positions. In these leadership positions she was responsible for overseeing the work in her divisions, for advocacy with Ramsey County Commissioners, and for advocacy with state legislators. Chris joined Wilder Research in 2020 as clinical lead on Minnesota’s System of Care grant evaluation before expanding her role to conduct research and evaluation on a variety of projects within Wilder Research. Chris’s research interests range from improving individual mental health to examining and improving organizational/systems functioning. Her current projects include an examination of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, the transition of a hospital clinic to becoming trauma-informed, examining implementation strategies for a comprehensive state Behavioral Health Safety Net, and consulting with the Aiding and Abetting Felony Murder Task Force. She will be a key researcher on the city projects by designing draft work plans with timelines, conducting literature/document reviews if needed, drafting survey/focus group tools depending on the project, analyzing data, and drafting reports. Chris has a doctorate in evaluation studies from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in counseling psychology from St. Thomas University, and a bachelor’s degree in social welfare from the University of Minnesota.

Biography

Rachel in an experienced library professional, skilled at gathering information and supporting the research process. At Wilder Research, she conducts literature searches of academic and gray literature, program evaluations, and field and policy scans. She maintains internal systems and workflows related to knowledge management, organizes and catalogs internal materials, and provides copyediting support to the communications team. She will assist the project team with information searches and data retrieval, note taking and organization, and editing deliverables. Rachel has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in library and information science from St. Catherine University. Rachel lives in Saint Paul and has two children, one who attends Capitol Hill Magnet School and one who attends ECFE through SPPS and will start Pre-K in 2024.

Biography
Naw-Amelia supports and provides assistance towards many different research projects. Her primary interest of research is early childhood development, areas of immigrants and refugees topics, and library resources.
Naw-Amelia holds a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology with a minor in family therapy from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. While getting her degree, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant. Her main focus was to work on the effect of ethnic studies in a student’s identity towards race and class. In that role, she worked with focus groups, data collection, and literature review.
Outside of work, Naw-Amelia loves to read while snuggling with her dog, Winter, listen to new music, and build LEGOs.
Biography
Audrey assists and supports multiple research projects with data collection, surveys and analysis. Her research interests include topics such as globalization, microfinance, privatization, as well as research that focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion, racial injustice, immigration, refugee health and education.
Audrey graduated from St. Catherine University with a major in economics and minors in statistics and finance where she conducted academic research involving conditional cash transfers, debt and its impact in developing countries, income disparities in the Twin Cities and women’s education in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has also conducted academic research through Research In Color Foundation, where she looked at school support programs. Audrey also served as the St. Catherine University Student Body President, engaging students and faculty in community settings.
Outside of work, Audrey enjoys exploring restaurants and cafes, spending time with loved ones, reading books, and binge watching movies.
Kingston Fellowship Award Winner: Audrey is a Research Associate and plans to use the Kingston Fellowship to pursue a Master’s degree in Finance. Her objective is to leverage the skills she will get in financial analysis to help in the evolving landscape of emerging projects that want support assessing their overall strategic direction, including looking at financial records to understand how expenditures could better align with strategic goals.

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Capital Improvement Budget Process Study

In This Section

The Project Description and Consultant

The Project Scope

Scope of Work

Wilder will use the following methods:

Department Partner:

Timing:

Team Background

Wilder Research Team

Dr. Heather Britt, Executive Director - Project Partner

Chris Bray (PhD, MA LP), Senior Researcher - Project Lead

Rachel Fields, Research Librarian - Project Partner

Naw-Amelia Kacher - Research Associate

Audrey Mutanhaurwa - Research Associate

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