12-04-2024 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

0.000 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000 60.000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Historical Tax Rates -Last Fifteen Years Little Canada White Bear Lake Vadnais Heights Rosville Maplewood Additional Ways to Reduce Levy • The City Council may utilize the City of Little Canada’s existing fund balance. At the end of 2023, the unassigned fund balance was $3,681,969 or 62.85% of the approved 2024 Budget. According to the City of Little Canada’s Financial Policy, the unassigned fund balance for the General Fund shall be between 42.5% - 65% of the subsequent year's budget. The State Auditor recommends municipalities carry a fund balance of 35% to 50%. Utilizing the General Fund Balance only works for one-time expenditures that do not carry over to the next year’s budget. City staff does not recommend using this approach at this time. • Reduce the Council Contingency line item of $15,000 included in the 2025 Budget. This item is typically utilized for unbudgeted and unanticipated expenditures that may come up. If the funds are not expended, they are added to the General Fund. City staff does not recommend using this approach at this time. • Reduce the current Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). The COLA is currently budgeted at an increase of 3.2% for 2025. For each one percent reduction to the COLA, the savings would be approximately $14,060 or a 0.33% levy decrease. The City has utilized a formula for the past five years that weights the CPI Index for the Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington market at 25% and the average COLA for comparison municipalities at 75%. This formula has worked well over the past five years and helped to maintain a competitive pay structure. Federal employees and Social Security will increase by 2.5% in 2025. If City Council members do not wish to follow the established formula, staff recommends maintaining a minimum COLA of 2.5%. • Postpone the proposed increase to the Capital Infrastructure Levy of $40,000. In 2024, the adopted Capital Infrastructure Levy was $160,000 with an increase of $40,000 to $200,000 proposed for 2025. Staff recommends retaining this increase as it will help to provide needed funds for projects identified in the 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan.