05-11-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MAJOR INITIATIVES Cooperative Efforts with Other Entities/Jurisdictions: The City contracts with the Little Canada Fire Department for fire services. LCFD is an independent corporation that provides contracted service only to Little Canada. The City contracts for police protection through the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department. We are one of seven jurisdictions in the County to participate in the relationship. Managers/Administrators of each participant jurisdiction meet monthly to review operations, set budgets, and discuss service level in a cooperative manner that helps keep police costs as low as possible while meeting the public safety needs of our communities. The City is 1 of 45 jurisdictions that contracts with Metro-INET for information technology (IT) services. This arrangement creates an “economy of scale” that enables us to obtain excellent services that would be far more expensive for comparable quality. Little Canada provides building inspection services to Falcon Heights. This arrangement allows both communities to provide a responsive and professional service at lower costs than if we each staff our own inspection program. The City is also exploring additional partnerships that may help to make this even more sustainable in the future. Water and Sewer Infrastructure: The City operates and maintains both a water distribution and sanitary sewer collection system. The City of Little Canada maintains a water tower and manages its own water distribution system, but does not have its own wells. Water is purchased from St. Paul Regional Water Service (SPRWS). This water is treated and softened before delivery to our customers. The City is responsible for maintenance of the water system and all customer relations. The City’s sanitary sewer collection system discharges into several Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) interceptor sewers for treatment by MCES at the Metro Wastewater treatment plant. The City pays MCES for sanitary sewer treatment charges on a quarterly basis, and these MCES treatment costs are included in the City’s sewer billing to residents. The City continues to strive to eliminate significant sources of inflow and infiltration of ground water into the City’s sanitary sewer system. Past efforts have included a sump pump inspection program, televising of city sewer mains and repairs of system leaks, and lining of sewer services in high water table areas. We are also starting to televise sewer service lines. Because the MCES charges are based on measured flow, any reduction of inflow and infiltration results in lower charges to the City and our customers. The City has one water tower to serve the needs of the community. The water tower also generates significant revenue through leases to telecommunications providers to meet their antenna needs. RELEVANT FINANCIAL POLICIES Financial trends in this millennium indicate the City will experience an increased reliance on service fees and property taxes as key funding sources for operations and capital improvements. In Little Canada’s case, our fully developed status means building and development related fees need to be estimated conservatively to avoid huge fluctuations in revenue. Interest income on existing fund balances will likely remain low for the foreseeable future due to national monetary policies. 7