01-09-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION December 5, 2016 DRAFT 6 rolling off an officer and he has expressed that already; this community values the 218 services of the department and the pro-active nature of the department. Council Member 219 Rafferty suggested discussion a reduction at the sergeant level. Mayor Reinert remarked 220 that changing the model that the department uses could be discussed but he believes that 221 requires a certain level of data that isn’t present at this meeting. 222 223 Mayor Reinert asked Chief Swenson to explain the $220,000 increase in the department 224 budget. Staff said it is mainly personnel – steps, wage increases and insurance costs. 225 226 Mayor Reinert asked for a run-down on the Fire Department budget. He sees a drop 227 from 2016 to 2017. Ms. Cotton said the reduction primarily relates to the one-time 228 contribution to the pension plan in 2016; in 2017 that is picked up by fire state aid. The 229 offset between the reduction and the amount of that state aid contribution was explained 230 as uniform costs (turn-out gear) for three firefighters and contracted services Mayor 231 Reinert asked that staff keep the gear available for future use in case they properly fit 232 another employee in the future. Staff explained the increase in the PERA line item as an 233 incorrect estimate that didn’t include certain wages. 234 235 Mayor Reinert remarked that he’d like staff to give a presentation next month on the 236 Cartegraph system; in particular he’d like to see what the system does and what it can do 237 and the path to use it best for this city. 238 239 Ms. Cotton reviewed the additional information in the report, including an updated gap 240 analysis, questions posed at the last review and the tax rate result. 241 242 Council Member Rafferty noted the new positions included in the budget – the .6 FTE 243 position in Public Services, the .5 FTE position in Finance and a new Police Department 244 CSO position. 245 246 Mayor Reinert noted that revenues appear to be going up by $300,000+ and he asked for 247 an explanation. Director Cotton explained that the figures are driven by the past use of 248 fund balance. 249 250 The council will consider adoption of the budget at the next regular council meeting. 251 9. Advisory Board Appointments - Administrator Karlson reviewed the written 252 staff report. It would be appropriate to schedule a date to interview applicants. He noted 253 that only the Planning and Zoning Board has more applicants than open positions. 254 255 The council will interview for open positions in January, prior to the first council meeting 256 in January (5:30 p.m.). Staff will update the council at the January work session. 257 10. Council Updates on Boards/Commissions – The council had no updates. 258