09-12-07 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 per week to five. Insurance costs are also projected to increase substantially for 2008 at an estimated 20.8% increase. The Director noted that insurance coverages were reviewed during 2007 and in some cases coverage was increased. The Director then reviewed Public Safety expenditures included in the General Fund, noting a projected increase for all public safety departments at 6.8%. This includes increased budget requests from the Little Canada Fire Department at 7.8% and the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department at 6%. It was noted that the Sheriff s Department increase primarily relates to the addition of a deputy for relief duties. Blesener noted that the City of North Oaks is requesting a re-evaluation of the allocation of policing costs between the contracting cities. It was noted this issue will be studied during 2008 and will likely impact future budgets with Little Canada as well as Vadnais Heights picking up a greater share of policing costs among the contracting cities. The Director noted that another factor impacting the Public Safety increase is the addition of a Deputy Fire Marshal at 16 hours per week. In addition to assisting the Fire Marshal, the Deputy Fire Marshal has also been assisting in the code enforcement area. Should the City implement a multi-family housing licensing program, the Deputy Fire Marshal would likely add another day per week serving as the City's Housing Inspector. Keis asked if a fine program would be utilized to offset the cost of a Housing Inspector. The Finance Director indicated that the specifics of the multi-family housing licensing program have not been worked out as of yet. The Director next reviewed projected Public Works expenditures for 2008 noting a 10.1% increase. Most of this increase is related to increased street costs associated with seal coating and crack filling due to higher oils costs. Community Service expenditures were reviewed which include the Parks & Recreation Department and Community Service. The total expenditure increase projected for 2008 in this area is 1.1 %. Shade Tree was next reviewed which is projected at a 52.4% increase due to a budget adjustment for 2008 to reflect the actual cost of the shade tree program. The Finance Director indicated that total General Fund Expenditures are projected to increase by 6.5% for 2008. The Director suggested that one area to address expenditure increases is to consider RFP's for professional services. She also noted that City staff will continue to work toward reducing expenditures without impacting City services prior to final Budget adoption.