09-02-98 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTCS CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMB~R 2, 1)98 Pahey asl<ed if the Ci¢y l~ad ever set a tar~et balance amount for Yhe Inf~rastruct~ire Repl~cemenC Fund. The AdministrlCOr replied t~hat t~his has not been doue to date since the City did not h~ve a~ood idea of iYs lon~ term needs. The pavement mana~en~ent sCUdy is being completed ~nd this will ~ive the City a means to analyze ueeds as well as future cosYS. Scalze pointed out th~t the Fund is cw~rently healthy, and she was not opposed to the atloc~tion of MSA Funds entirely to the Generll Fund for 1999. "I'he AdminisCraCOr indic2ted that with the improvements proposed for 1999, fhe fund may ~et hit heavily. "I'he $1 million balance in fhe Pund will c~rry the City (~or ti f~ew years, but certainly not ten. F~hey felt the 111oc~Pion ol'MSA l~unds to the General Pund would be a one-year adjustment. Wl~ile on the other h~nd, the $256,000 reduction in the debt levy will be a permanent decline. Fahey pointed out that in the last couple of years permit fees have been increased heavily, and he w1s not i~~clined to increase tl~ese revenues for the 1999 Buclget. Morelan pointed o~it that MSA dollars come from the St<tte and the City has no control over this revenue source. Once these dollars are used for the Genera( Pui~d, Cl~e City becomes dependent on tl~em. Morelan again indicltecl that he supported the 50/50 allocltion of MSA dolllrs between the General C'und and tnfi'astructure Replacement Pund. Scalze asl<ed if there were ~ny excess doil~rs in the Capital Improvement Bud~et. Tl~e City AdministraYOr repiied that the Ca~it~al lmprovement F3udget was hel~etl by the 1997 Budget sur~~i~is. I~~lowever, this is the area that the City has the ~reatesP ~mount of need with Che le~st amount of revenue. Pahey intlicated that it was not important [o decide which Pund the budget buy-down wo~ild come from toni~ht, but rather the tar~et that Che Council wanted to achieve tor the neY levy. The Administr~tor clarified th~t MSA dollars come {i~om the St1te ~as tax. Therefore, these dollars are more st~ble than some of the other local governmenY aitls. Ho~.vever, the Legislature does have Che ability to malce chln~es in Chis area as weli as otl~ier loc~l aids.