HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWKSPMIN_8.18.21CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
City Council Workshop
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA
August 18, 2021
6:30 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:40PM
B. ROLL CALL: ANDREWS _X_ GUSTAFSON_X_ LEEHY_X
MIAZGA X WEHYEE X
STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH X WALTER X
C. PRESENTATIONS:
D. POLICY ITEMS:
1. Proposed 2022 Levy and Budget - General Fund and Debt Services
Administrator ThoManh
The City is funded by a number of different mechanisms including the levy, fiscal disparities,
and local government aid, as well as revenues from permits and licensing. We are expecting a
5 % decrease in fiscal disparities for 2022.
We did receive half of our American Recovery funds, we are expected to receive more in the
future. This will be a topic for a future workshop. The City is trying to be less reliant on Local
Government Aid, and using any aid received through LGA for capital projects rather than
supplementing the general fund. The City applies revenues from Cable TV franchise fees to
technology needs for the AV system, and 25% would be moved to the general capital fund.
There is an error in the PERA contributions for legislative expenditures, it should be $1,000, not
$21,000.
For staff salaries, I have modified the percentage coming from various funds to cover
administrative salaries. This is why the proposed 2022 appears lower in administrative
expenditures.
The increased IT costs in communications is partly related to the shifting of the demand for
services from the fire department back to the general operations.
The City no longer has a part time emergency management staff person. Now Ramsey County
is my backup.
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Council Member Leehy
Is the emergency preparedness training still being offered?
Administrator Thongyanh
I'm in contact with the County, we can look into that in the future.
I have been in communication with Saint Paul about providing police services to the city. Saint
Paul has said they need more time to plan for taking on additional demands for services. We are
looking at a one-year contract with Ramsey County, and I believe Little Canada and some of the
other contract cities are as well. The decrease in the budget for 2022 is actually because of the
backup that RCSO will be providing to the State Fair. If Falcon Heights pulled out, other cities
have said that their costs would increase significantly.
The Fire Service contract is shown under fire services expenditures and this will remain the only
item in that fund after the disbanding of the fire department in 2021.
Falcon Woods pavement will be a full reconstruction when that project comes around, and
Garden Avenue may be also.
Fund 134 is the Tree Program Expenditures. In the last few years, we moved tree services out of
the capital fund into the general fund so we can be transparent in the budgeting for it. The
council will need to think about the City's philosophy around trees. Many other communities
do not put trees in the boulevard to avoid the city's responsibility for maintaining the tree in the
future.
Park Maintenance and Administration Expenditures shows a transfer out in the amount of
$26,000 to supplement park programming cost. This is a service that the City has identified as
one that does not represent a net positive, but is still an important one to provide. The warming
house is still in the budget for 2022.
The sale of the fire trucks will allow funds to cover outstanding debt on the equipment when
the bonds are callable. The remainder of the funds would be put into a capital fund for the
Council to decide how to spend.
We still have a few more budget items to discuss but those will be covered at the next council
workshop. I am hoping we can hold the levy to 5-7%, and other cities in Ramsey County are
ranging from 4-7%.
E. INFORMATION/ ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F. ADJOURNMENT:8:31PM
1z ndall C. Gu son, Mayor
Dated this' th day of August, 2021
Sack Thon anli, 6ity Administrator
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