September 22nd, 2025 Budget Comm Minutes

Attended (Members)	Kristijan Kowalsky	Chair
Attended (Members)	Rita Mistry	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Jose Velazquez	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Mercy	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Shunsuke Murasaki	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Dimmitri	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Kriss Baird	Committee Member
Attended (Secretary)	Lloyd Duhon	Secretary
Attended (Guests/Staff)	Nicolas Cerny	Observer/Visitor
Attended (Guests/Staff)	Simo Simovic	Observer/Visitor
Attended (Guests/Staff)	Jack Briggs	Observer/Visitor

Agenda:

• Finalizing the 2026 Budget Framework for Board Presentation: Preparing the streamlined five-stage budget process and supporting materials for the upcoming special session with the board, focusing on finalizing the strategic planning and approval pathways.

• Defining the Committee's Mandate and Oversight: Seeking the board's approval on the Budget Committee's new remit, which outlines its core functions, including budget facilitation and the oversight/audit management of Intersect's own operations.

• Addressing Process Challenges and Workload: Discussion on solutions to avoid the appearance of "gatekeeping" by committees, the strategy for DREPs to rank proposals, and coordinating project management support to handle the workload of implementing the new framework.

Decisions/Actions

Attendance & Welcome	Members: Chris Kowalsski (Chair), Rita Mistry, Jose Velasquez, Mercy, Shunsuke Murasaki, Dimmitri, and Lloyd Duhon (Secretary). Observers: Nico Cerny, Simo Simovic, and Jack Briggs. Quorum was met.
Board Meeting & Budget Process Presentation	Jack Briggs announced a special session with the board this Wednesday to present the budget committee's proposed process framework. All budget committee members are welcome to attend this hour-long dedicated session.	All committee members are welcome to attend the special board session on Wednesday.
Project Management Support	Simo Simovic will join the weekly budget committee sessions moving forward to provide project management support, working with the Chair and contributors to action the approved plan.	Simo Simovic to begin supporting the committee with project management and moving the plan into action.
Framework Document Review (Finalization)	The committee reviewed the framework document, focusing on the "framework board meeting" tab, which contains the streamlined version for board presentation. The goal was to ensure all critical components were present before presenting to the board.	All committee members to immediately review the "framework board meeting" tab for final critical omissions or necessary deletions.
Framework Structure and Additions	The framework includes risks and issues (RAID) documentation. Dimmitri added risks and issues directly into the main document. Rita Mistry noted the need to present a "decision-making pathway" slide, showing DREP-led, committee-led, or hybrid approaches.	The committee must decide whether to include the "decision-making pathway" as part of the Wednesday presentation.
Strategic Planning (Step Zero) & Planning Horizon	Step Zero focuses on strategic planning (overarching goals, priorities, initiatives). Dimmitri clarified that the planning horizon (annual vs. multi-year) is a decision to be made during this phase, not by the committee now, but must be factored into the planning.
Proposal Filtering and Ranking	The idea of DREPs voting on a ranked list of proposals (highest to lowest priority) to adjust for a moving NCL threshold was discussed as a way to avoid the unpopular "gatekeeping" appearance of committees filtering proposals.	The committee agreed to prioritize the rank-choice methodology to limit gatekeeping and efficiently fund proposals based on DREP priority.
Committee Workload and Committee Feedback	Jack Briggs raised concerns about the potential workload on committees for proposal review, especially given the diverse proposal types and potential mismatch in expertise. Nico Cerny countered that stipended committees should be expected to provide structured feedback as expert groups.	The committee will clarify that its role is to prepare and provide proposals to the DREPs, who do the sorting/ranking, avoiding the appearance of gatekeeping.
Consolidating Feedback & Process Clarity	The committee addressed the need to provide clear, useful feedback to DREPs. The consensus was that using structured budget templates would simplify comparison (reducing information asymmetry). The goal is for committees to prepare and provide proposals, while DREPs do the sorting and ordering.
Remit Approval and Board Direction	Lloyd Duhon confirmed the presentation would seek the board's approval on the committee's new remit (Primary/Supporting Functions) and seek guidance on the process framework. The presentation must clearly articulate what is being requested from the board.	Lloyd Duhon to finalize the short presentation deck (including the remit, decision pathways, and survey findings) by this afternoon. Jack Briggs to be clear in the deck that the board's purpose is to approve the remit and provide guidance/direction on the framework.
Next Steps for Framework Refinement	The Chair and presenters (Rita/Nico) will hold a working session on Wednesday to align on the final presentation. Lloyd Duhon will override his calendar conflict to attend this session.	Rita Mistry, Nico Cerny, and Chris Kowalsski to hold a preparatory working session on Wednesday to finalize the board presentation materials. Lloyd Duhon to attend the Wednesday working session by arranging a substitute for his prior commitment.