11-14-07 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 14, 2007 2007 available data, the one year lag has been effectively eliminated and Little Canada's 2008 salaries should be fairly close to the 2008 wages paid by the comparison groups. The City Administrator suggested that the Council review the proposed wage scales and contact him with any comments, questions, or concerns. Blesener noted that the City Administrator's 2008 wage will be set as part of his performance evaluation. The City Administrator noted that the City is the recipient of some windfall dollars for 2008, i.e. Local Government Aid and substantial building permit revenue from the St. Jude Medical project. The Administrator noted that these are likely one-time dollars. He did not anticipate that the LGA dollars would be a stable source of funding for the City, pointing out the volatility in the LGA formula, the fact that this formula is favorable to a declining tax base, and Little Canada is experiencing growth. He cautioned the Council on buying down the net levy increase with one-time dollars due to our need to continue to fund that buy-down into the future unless new revenue sources or expense reductions are found. The City Administrator then reviewed the Sheriff s Department portion of the City's Budget as it will impact the City in the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Administrator reported that the City of North Oaks feels that the formula for distributing policing costs among the member cities in inequitable. The Administrator explained the history of how this formula has evolved. The Administrator indicated that some of North Oaks' points about the current formula may be valid, but the resolution they have proposed is not equitable. The Administrator reported that the Sheriff is working on a new formula that would be based on a combination of call activity, patrol time, and investigation time. The increased cost that Little Canada would see under this new formula would be phased in over 2009 through 201 I. The Administrator reviewed the Sheriff's Department's preliminary budget estimate sheets pointing out the increases to Little Canada for policing costs. Total impact to Little Canada for 2009 would be an additional $71,300 ($54,000 normal increase and $17,300 due to formula) under the new formula. In 2010 Little Canada would see an additional $70,644 ($34,860 normal increase and $35,784 due to formula), and in 2011 an additional $85,668 ($30,531 normal increase and $55,137 due to formula). The Administrator stated that the City could impact the investigative numbers and perhaps lessen the number of events through better control of problems at rental properties. 2