08-15-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 15,2011 APPROVED 46 concurred to drop the city contribution to the family coverage premium to 82% and the 47 waiver of coverage to 60%. 48 49 The Police Department budget was discussed. A council member noted that the police 50 department budget seems to be going up in the area of 7 percent, with the 51 acknowledgement that some grant money isn't included this year. The city administrator 52 noted that last year the council decided not to fill two vacant positions in the department 53 and that continues to be the case. The police chief explained his discussions with area 54 departments about sharing services. Chief Swenson also explained the capital outlay item 55 included in his proposed budget that basically represents a copier, tasers, a radar unit and 56 some laptop computers. 57 58 Other areas of the budget were briefly discussed, including professional services line 59 items and facility electricity costs and the possibility of retrofitting, 60 61 The city's budget for civil legal services was discussed and Administrator Karlson 62 confirmed that staff will make the $5,000 reduction that represents a reduction of about 63 half of the council meetings that the city attorney will attend. On criminal legal fees, 64 Administrator Karlson explained staff's efforts underway to lower the contract cost for 65 those services, either through the current provider or through a change. 66 67 Finance Director Rolek confirmed that the proposed budget contains a contingency of 68 $75,000. He doesn't anticipate any level of savings for the 2011 budget. The proposed " 69 budget contains a 2% cost of living increase for employees. 70 71 The mayor asked the city administrator if he is nervous about any area of the budget. Mr. 72 Karlson explained that his objective in completing an organizational assessment was to 73 see what could be cut today and still provide primary core services. Additional personnel 74 adjustments would impact what the city is able to do. The police chief noted that he is 75 working on shift configurations to address some coverage concerns. 76 77 The mayor noted that the budget presented proposes an increase to the tax rate and he 78 thought he had communicated to staff that he is interested in keeping that rate flat. 79 Finance Director Rolek explained that keeping the tax rate flat would require an 80 additional $430,000 in reductions or revenue. 81 82 The council will hold another special work session on August 22 to continue discussion 83 of the 2012 budget. 84 85 The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. 86 87 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on 88 September 12, 2011. 89 90 2