09-08-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 8, 2010 APPROVED 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 4 DATE : September 8,2010 5 TIME STARTED : 5:30 p.m. 6 TIME ENDED : 9:30 p.m. 7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Councilmember Gallup,O'Donnell, 8 Rafferty,Roeser and Mayor Reinert 9 MEMBERS ABSENT : None 10 11 12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Director of Administration Dan 13 Tesch; Community Development Director Mike Grochala; Director of Public Safety Kent 14 Strege, Public Services Director Rick DeGardner; Director of Finance Al Rolek 15 16 2011 Proposed Budget—City Administrator Karlson explained that during the two 17 weeks that he has been on staff, he has made it a priority to meet with the directors and 18 has go through the budget for the coming year. He is confident that the directors are 19 presenting a budget tonight that will meet current service level needs for the city and its 20 residents. He envisions a budget process that involves a team effort including both 21 council and staff, and that brings forward a budget that meets service needs. A reduction 22 in the proposed budget will mean that some services will have to be curtailed. He would 23 have liked to have begun the budget process with a system of prioritization by the council 24 but timing did not allow for that. Staff is trying to present a budget that meets service 25 needs recognizing that the citizens are also facing a down economy and financial strains. 26 This is a preliminary budget and what is certified next Monday evening is as high as the 27 levy can go;there is more time to cut back after looking at priorities and other revenue 28 etc. 29 30 Finance Director Rolek spoke to the proposed budget before the council this evening. He 31 reported that staff has included the recommendations provided by the council in July— 32 capital enhancement for streets and equipment, and do away with employee furloughs. 33 Added to that the city is required to pay additional PERA costs, health insurance costs 34 don't remain static, and there is an obligation of a cost of living raise for the some police 35 personnel. The bottom line is that the city is a service provider and that means much of 36 the costs are personnel related. He noted that storm water maintenance is included in the 37 budget but staff recognizes that the council is considering a storm water utility that would 38 reduce the levy by approximately$311,000. He noted that various expenditures have 39 been reduced by $48,000. The preliminary levy proposed is below the state's levy limit 40 by about $426,000, indicative of the city holding the line over the past few years. Within 41 the levy also is about $240,000 of state mandated tax relief(Market Value Homestead 42 Credit)that the city would normally receive back from the state but due to state cutbacks, 43 probably will not receive back in 2011. Given all of the factors presented,the council is 44 looking at a proposed budget that will increase by approximately 4% and a tax levy that 45 increases by approximately 6% (impacted somewhat by the civic center and YMCA 1