09-12-07 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 turn-out gear from the Capital Improvement Fund to the General Fund Budget as well as uniform replacement accounts for most of that increase. Blesener acknowledged the great job that the Fire Department does for the City and indicated that it is awell-trained organization. The Council thanked Morelan for his presentation. The Finance Director then began a detailed review of the proposed 2008 General Fund Revenue Summary. She noted that Licenses and Permits revenue is projected to increase by 1.12% which reflects slight increases in license fees as well as some increases in the number of licenses. With regard to Intergovernmental Revenues, the Director noted that the City is scheduled to receive $225,168 in Local Government Aid (LGA) after having received no LGA for the past few years. She also noted that the City's MSA dollars are projected to decrease. Revenues related to Charges for Service are project to decrease slightly as is Fine revenue. Miscellaneous revenues are project to increase slightly reflecting reimbursement for Building Official services to the City of Falcon Heights associated with increased compensation costs. Blesener indicated that the $225,000 LGA allocation to Little Canada is of concern given that the City has not received LGA assistance for a number of years. He noted concern among cities with the shifts of these dollars away from some cities and toward others. He also noted the discussion for an LGA formula change, and the uncertain impact that that would have on Little Canada. Blesener felt that the City needed to be conservative in its use of these LGA dollars, allocating a portion for tax relief and a portion toward reserves. Blesener suggested that if the LGA formula changes and it appears that Little Canada will be a continuing recipient of these dollars, then LGA dollars would be more safely utilized for tax relief. The Finance Director then reviewed projected 2008 General Fund Expenditures. The Director noted that projected wages reflect generally a 3% cost of living increase as well as any appropriate steps on wage scales. These increases are interspersed within the General Fund Expenditures. The Director also indicated that she is projecting increased health insurance costs at 18%, noting that the increase to the City is capped at 7% with City employees paying the additional increase. The Finance Director reviewed the General Government portion of General Fund Expenditures, pointing out the increase in Election costs for 2008 given it is election year. She also noted the 7.8% increase in Administration costs which account for increased employee costs relative to the Customer Service Representative position changing from four days