10-04-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 4, 2010 APPROVED 91 spending spree. To calm those fears, the council could: clearly reduce taxes; put a cap on 92 expenses paid through the utility; make the funding a back up for special expenses but 93 with special consideration; and include a sunset provision for the utility. 94 95 A council member concurred that a very strict definition of everything attached to the 96 utility would be necessary. It would have to be absolutely clear what the budget includes. 97 He is still looking for a way to make it work, however, because he sees that the city's 98 property tax payers are subsidizing other users(prisons, schools). The concept of 99 supervising the fund and the utility through an advisory board(Environmental Board) is 100 good. 101 102 There was a concern voiced that this still appears to be just trading money. More 103 definition of the budget and how funds would be carried forward is absolutely needed. 104 105 The council and staff discussed the history of the state allowing cities to establish this 106 type of utility; it was related to the mandates that city must face in the area of water 107 management. 108 109 Staff will present more budget details; the council is particularly interested in trackability 110 and accountability in the budget. 111 112 5. Set Budget Work Session—The council established that the next budget work 113 session would be held on October 20 at 5:30 p.m. (this date was later changed to October L 114 21). 115 116 6. Odd Year Elections—City Clerk Bartell explained that the concept of the city 117 changing from an odd to even year election cycle for municipal elections is being brought 118 forward at the request of two council members who presented it as an efficiency and cost 119 saving possibility. Of the eighty plus cities in Anoka County, only two cities have their 120 municipal elections in odd years (Lino Lakes and Circle Pines). She explained that the 121 requirement for the current practice of odd-year city elections is included in the city 122 charter so a charter amendment would be required for a change. The process for charter 123 amendments(as set forth by state statute)was reviewed. Ms. Bartell noted the biyearly 124 costs associated with holding an exclusive municipal election; the costs would be saved 125 entirely along with staff's work and time associated with the election process. She also 126 noted that any change to the election cycle would obviously result in an impact to terms 127 of office for the council and mayor positions. It is advisable that any change in terms be 128 determined and included in the enacting ordinance so it is clear up front. Staff is seeking 129 direction from the council on their interest in further discussion or moving forward on a 130 change and, if appropriate, on what type of amendment the council would seek. 131 132 The council discussed possible scenarios of enacting a change, including how long a 133 process would take. There was recognition that if the charter commission were to make 134 the recommendation to the council, the process would be shorter and the savings would 135 come quicker. The charter commission meets quarterly and has a meeting in October. 3