HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 9, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting MinutesCITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Regular Meeting of the City Council
City Hall
2077 W est Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
September 9,2026 at 7:00 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 7:23P.M.
B. ROLL CALL: GUSTAFSON X MAY X MOGEN X
MIELKE X WASSENBERG X
STAFF PRESENT: LINEHAN X LANDBERG X
C. APPROVALOFAGENDA
Council Member Wassenberg motioned to approve the
agenda as amended;
Approved 5-0
D. PRESENTATION
There were no presentations.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. August 26,2026 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes
2. August 26,2026 City Council Meeting Minutes
Linehan noted that a header correction related to Policy H-2 for continuation of council schedule had
been made to the minutes, consistent with action taken at the prior meeting.
Mayor Gustafson motioned to approve the minutes;
Approved 5-0
F. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
CONSENT AGENDA:
1. General Disbursements tfuough 9/a/26: 9289,130.25
Payroll through 8/27 /26: $21,808.54
E.
I
G.
There were no public hearings.
Wire Payments through9 /a/26: $15,496.48
2. City Licenses
3. Approval of Resolution26-76 Reappointing Mike Tracy to the Planning Commission
Council Member May motioned to approve the consent
agenda; Approved 5-0
H: POLICY ITEMS:
There were no policy items.
I: INFORMATION / ANNOUNCEMENTS]
Mogen reported that the Planning Commission did not meet and had no additional
announcements, beyond noting that the State Fair had again concluded successfully
Mielke reported that the Community Engagement Commission would meet the following
Monday, and that she had been invited to represent the northern portion of Snelling Avenue in
the newly formed Snelling Coalition, organized by the Hamline Midway Coalition to examine
safety and aesthetic improvements along the corridor.
Wassenberg congrafulated families on the start of the school year and reported attending a
League of Minnesota Cities webinar on community engagement and land use planning. Key
takeaways included the importance of engaging residents early and oftery and meeting
residents where they are rather than requiring them to come to City Hall.
May reported that the Environment Commission had not met recentl!, and commended staff
and parking ambassadors for their management of the State Fair parking program.
Gustafson noted that the Parks and Recreation Commission held a special meeting the prior
week to begin forming ideas for park development within the Les Bolstad property, which he
was unable to attend due to travel. He expressed enthusiasm for the work being done and
echoed appreciation for staff's efforts during and after the State Fair.
Linehan provided a staff update on several items. Regarding the State Fair parking program/
staff was in the process of reconciling data, gathering ambassador feedback, and analyzing
outcomes. The preliminary figure showed a 25 percent increase in parking numbers compared
to the prior year. A fuller summary was planned for a future workshop. Regarding Community
Park, concrete footings for the new playground were poured that day, with equipment
installation expected to proceed quickly thereafter. The pour-in-place rubber surfacing was
weather-dependent and required overnight temperatures above 50 degrees for five consecutive
days, making timing into October a concem. Staff anticipated a grand opening event in spring,
with the building's reservation policies still being developed through the Parks Commission. A
soft opening of the playground area is to be planned once fencing is complete, similar to the
approach taken with the splash pad.
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J: COMMUNITY FORUM:
Please limit comments to 3 minutes per person. Items brought before the Council will be referredfor
consideration. Council may ask questions for clarification, but no council action or discussion wiII be
held on these items.
No members of the public came forward.
The Community Forum was closed.
K:CONTINUATION OF WORKSHOP ITEMS
1. 2027 BrdgetWorkshop #3
a. 2027 Prchminary Levy & General Fund Update
Linehan introduced the budget discussiory framing it as a return to the general fund and
preliminary levy following the capital-focused second workshop. He reminded the Council that
the City is required by statute to adopt a preliminary levy by September 30, which is then
submitted to Ramsey County for inclusion in Truth in Taxation notices. The preliminary levy
may be reduced before final adoption but cannot be increased.
Linehan reported that since the first budget workshop, where a'1,2.2 percent levy increase had
been initially proposed, staff had made several revisions to bring the figure down. These
included: adding a $50,000 transfer from the parking management special revenue fund;
increasing the projected investment interest revenue from $30,000 to $80,000; reducing the
budgeted commissioner salary line to a more realistic $15,000 based on historical participation;
and incorporating updated TIF valuation estimates from Ramsey County reflecting the
Larpenteur senior property coming off the TIF rolls. New expenditures were also incorporated,
including engineering cost adjustrnents. As a result of these changes, staff's current proposal
stood at approximately a9.5 percent levy increase, corresponding to a city tax rate of
approximately 40 percent.
Linehan noted that Ramsey County had communicated that commercial property valuations
had increased for 2027 wlrjle residential valuations had generally decreased, meaning a greater
share of the tax burden would shift to commercial properties. This was expected to moderate
the impact on the average homeowner.
Linehan also presented information on a proposed 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)
for staff, noting that implementing it would result in the 9.5 percent levy, while foregoing it
entirely would bring the levy down to approximately 8.6 percent. He provided comparative
levy data from neighboring cities, noting that surrounding communities were projecting
increases ranging from approximately 6 to14 percenf and that Falcon Heights had held the
lowest levy increase among comparable cities for the prior two years.
Wassenberg expressed support for the 3 percent COLA, characterizing it as below the CPI and
noting that staff had been performing at a high level, including securing grants and improving
city operations. He did not view the personnel line as a place to reduce.
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May agreed, noting the Twin Cities cost-of-living increase was approximately 3.2 percent
making the 3 percent figure reasonable. She expressed a desire to bring the levy below L0
percent and suggested that realistic revenue projections and prudent use of reserves could help
accomplish that. She indicated that residents would appreciate an increase as low as possible,
particularly given rising energy costs, and asked how the Council should frame what an
acceptable levy increase looks like.
Wassenberg introduced a reserve fund management concept he had been developing, which he
shared in a handout with staff analysis. The proposal centered on establishing a policy for
systematically drawing down the general fund balance toward a target of 100 percent of annual
expenditures, with guardrails to prevent destabilizing the budget. The guardrails included:
never spending more than 50 percent of the amount above 100 percent reserve in a single year;
never using reserves to reduce the levy increase by more than 5 percent in any one year; and not
using reserves to push the levy below 2 percent of an increase; utilizing whatever was the least
amount of the three options. His rationale was that holding reserves significantly above what is
needed for fiscal stability and bond rating purposes represents excess taxpayer funds that could
be retumed through levy relief in an orderly, predictable manner.
Linehan explained the mechanics of the general fund reserve, noting it functions as a rainy-day
savings account that accumulates year-over-year surpluses. The City's financial policy requires
reserves of no less than 45 percent of the annual budget. The City currently holds a Triple-A
bond rating-one of only approximately 30 cities in Minnesota-and Standard & Poor's has
indicated a preference for reserves at or above 75 percent of the annual budget. The audited
end-of-2025 general fund balance stood at approximately $4.194 million, representingabofill7
percent of the prior year's budget. Given the purchase of Get Pressed, software and other
factors, the projected end-of-2026 fnnd balance was approximately $4.174 million, representing
around 102 percent of projected 2026 expenditures - the first year in eight that the City would
not be adding to reserves.
Mogen expressed general support for the thoughffulness of Wassenberg's proposal but
cautioned against implementing it at this time, citing the heightened financial uncertainty
associated with the Les Bolstad Golf Course development. He argued that a city facing an
elevated risk profile in the near term should maintain a larger reserve than a stable city would
need, and suggested the Council revisit the framework once the development picture is clearer
Gustafson noted that the City had historically transferred general fund surpluses to the parks
capital fund, which had enabled cash purchases and debt reduction for capital projects. He
acknowledged the potential flexibility the reserve provides but also pointed to upcoming
development-related costs as a consideration.
The discussion then turned to investrnent interest revenue. Landberg reported that actual
interest earned in the general fund had ranged from approximately $145,000 to $156,000 in
recent years, while the current budget had conservatively projected only $80,000-an amount
that had itself been an increase from the longstanding figure of $30,000.
Mogen and Wassenberg both noted the disconnect between the conservative budget figure and
the historical actuals, and suggested increasing the projected revenue to a more realistic level.
The Council reached general consensus that revising the investment interest estimate upward to
$140,000-representing a three-year rolling average and a modest reduction from recent peak
years to account for declining rates -was both defensible and accurate. This revision would
produce an approximately $60,000 reduction in the levy requirement bringing the projected
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levy increase from 9.5 percent to approximately 7.42 percent with a corresponding city tax rate
of approximately 39.13 percent.
Landberg confirmed that at a median estimated market value of $402050 for a Falcon Heights
home n2027 (a 1.1 percent decrease fuom2026), the resulting increase in the city portion of
property taxes would be approximately $41per year, or roughly $4 per month.
The Council expressed broad support for the revised approach, with Linehan noting that staff
would run the numbers past the City's auditors as a precaution and would prepare a
preliminary levy resolution for adoption at the September 23 meeting. The resolution will also
set the date for the Truth in Taxation hearing. The 3 percent COLA for staff was affirmed as
included in the budget.
2. 2026Post-State Fair Survey
Linehan introduced the question of whether to conduct a post-State Fair resident survey again
in2026, noting the prior year's survey had been run digitally and that feedback from two years
of the program would provide useful trend data. He presented the prior year's survey questions
for Council review and direction.
The Council agreed unanimously to conduct the survey again. Discussion focused on which
questions to retain, modify, or eliminate in the interest of shortening the survey and improving
the quality of data collected.
The Council reached consensus on the following changes: eliminate question 8 (feelings of
personal safety in the neighborhood during the fair), as responses lacked a useful baseline and
had not provided actionable data; eliminate question 13 (whether respondents had contacted
the City or the State Fair), as members did not see clear utility in the data; and modify question
17 to remove the "other issues" prompt leaving only an optional open-ended comment field
regarding the State Fair experience.
Council members also agreed to modify the traffic question (question 9) to remove confusing
double-negative framing, with May volunteering to provide revised wording. The Council
retained questions L0 and 11 (regarding litter and personal property) over some members'
objections, with Mogen arguing that litter, noise, and property impacts represent the core issues
the task force was created to monitor. Questions 14 and 15, regarding use of parking passes and
clings, were retained as the data cannot be capfured from back-end scanner records alone.
May asked whether survey responses could be cross-referenced by neighborhood of the
respondent. Linehan confirmed that the raw data from SurveyMonkey could be exported and
analyzed manually, noting that this would require staff or volunteer time to complete. May
offered to assist with the data analysis.
Linehan summarized the final direction: a modified 1S-question survey would be distributed
through the City newsletter by the following week and run for approximately 30 days. Results
were tentatively planned for a workshop discussion in late October.
Council Member Wassenberg motioned to adjourn the
meeting;
Approved 5-0
L: ADJOURNMENT: 9:15 P.M.
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Amendments to the agenda are noted in bolil for additions and s+A\ethr+ryfi for remwals.
Dated this 23.d day of September, 2026
Randall C.Mayor
Administrator
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