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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWkspAgenda 9-3-2014Falcon Heights City Council Workshop City Hall 2077 W Larpenteur Ave. 6:30 p.m. AGENDA Wednesday September 3, 2014 1) Continued Discussion on the Draft 2015 General Fund Budget and Levy If you have a disability and need accommodation in order to attend this meeting, please notify City Hall 48 hours in advance between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 651-792-7600. We will be happy to help. WORKSHOP STAFF REPORT Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Item Draft 2015 General Fund Budget and Preliminary Levy Description A preliminary levy must be set by September 30th. The Minnesota Legislature recently changed this deadline from September 15th to September 30th. The City Council will formally act on the preliminary 2015 General Fund Budget and Levy at the September 24th City Council meeting. At the August 6th Workshop, the City Council reviewed for the first time a draft of the 2015 General Fund Budget. Staff presented a preliminary budget with the understanding that some important revenue information was unavailable at that time. The amount of the Fiscal Disparities to be received was unavailable. The amount of Fiscal Disparity distribution dollars received either increases or decreases the amount to be levied to the property owners. Also, the Tax Capacity numbers for the City were unavailable. This tax capacity information is needed to evaluate the effect of various levels of tax rates. Details for the preliminary 2015 General Fund Budget: 1) There are no levy limits imposed by the Legislature for the 2015 Budget. 2) The amount of LGA state aid was increased by an amount of $27,601 by the Legislature for budget year 2015. LGA will increase from $503,707 to $531,308 in 2015. 3) Fiscal Disparity distribution dollars for 2015 decreased by $24,223 over the 2014 level. This results in a higher ad valorem property tax portion of the levy. 4) The overall general fund expenditures are proposed to increase by 5.5%. -Public Safety (Police, Fire and Dispatch costs) account for 4.3% of this increase. This includes the latest Police Contract, the costs from Ramsey County for inclusion in the 911 Dispatch system for 2015 and the investment toward the new position of Regular, Part-Time Fire Chief as recommended in the 2012 Fire Study. -All other departments account for increases of 1.2%. -Health insurance premiums are estimated to increase 6% due to being a small group with additional health expenses in our group during 2014. None Meeting Date September 3, 2014 Agenda Item Workshop 1 Attachment Draft 2015 General Fund Budget & Levy Submitted By Bart Fischer, City Administrator of the insurance companies have provided new premium data at this time. Rates are not available to the City until November. Impacts to the Overall Property Tax Levy: 2013 2014 2015 Property Tax Levy $1,008,302 $944,715 $? Debt Levy $75,705 $139,135 $155,383 Total Levy: $1,084,007 $1,083,850 $? The property tax portion of the levy is what needs to be discussed at the Workshop. Additional information regarding different levy scenarios will be presented at the meeting. Any information provided will be made part of the Workshop Minutes. Budget Impact Dependent upon eventual adoption of the 2015 General Fund Budget later in 2014. Attachment(s) Draft 2015 General Fund Budget Action(s) Requested No action required, but guidance on continual refinement of the 2015 General Fund Budget so the preliminary general fund levy can be set at the 9/24/14 Council meeting.