09-10-2025 Workshop Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL LITTLE CANADA, MINNESOTA SEPTEMDER 10, 2025 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a Workshop meeting of the City Council of Little Canada, Minnesota was convened on the 10th day of September 2025 in the Conference Room in the City Center located at 515 Little Canada Road in said City. Mayor Tom Fischer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and the following members of the City Council were present at roll call: ROLL CALL: In attendance were Mayor Fischer and City Council Members Miller, Gutierrez, Malone and Kwapick. Absent: none. ALSO PRESENT: City Administrator Bryce Shearen, Assistant City Administrator Laura Linehan, Finance Director Sam Magureanu and City Clerk/HR Manager Heidi Heller. DISCUSS 10% FUND POLICY The Assistant City Administrator stated there are three non-profit organizations in Little Canada that conduct charitable gambling: Little Canada Fire Department, Little Canada Recreation Association and Little Canada Canadian Days. She explained that charitable gambling is a "form of incentivized giving" where a charity or non-profit group, rather than a municipality or private casino, oversees gambling activities such as bingo or lotteries and uses the proceeds to further its activities. She stated that Minnesota law allows cities to collect up to 10% of the gambling profits but Minnesota Statutes, section 349.12, Subd. 25 limits what cities can use these funds for. She explained that Little Canada has a "10% Fund (Fund 408), which is classified as a Capital Project Fund and is used to account for the amounts received and related to the city's charitable gambling contributions. The Assistant City Administrator stated that the 10% Fund has historically been used to pay for the Canadian Days fireworks display and some park improvements. She noted that with around $30,000 annually in revenue, and the fund balance at $104,106 at the end of 2024, staff have been looking at other eligible items for these funds that normally come out of the general fund. She stated that staff also have been asked to research options for funds to support other community nonprofit agencies. She laid out some additional options for the Council to consider for using these funds, such as paying for some or all the annual contribution to Northeast Youth & Family Services (NYFS) or offering small grants for non-profit community support programs that provide specified services in Little Canada. Malone questioned why NYFS gets a donation of over $20,000 from the city every year when the Council is considering an application process for five $1,000 donations to other non-profit recipients. Fischer stated that the city has been supporting NYFS for many years, but he does not know the history of how it started. The City Clerk/HR Manager reported that the city has been contributing annually to NYFS since at least 1994. There was Council consensus to use the 10% funds for other things in addition to the Canadian Days fireworks. The Council wants the ability to evaluate the use and amount of these funds used every year. Staff will draft a financial policy to specify the additional uses for these funds and develop an annual community support program for qualifying nonprofit organizations.