08-26-13 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION Aug ust 12, 2013 DRAFT 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 1 MINUTES 2 3 DATE : August 12, 2013 4 TIME STARTED : 5:30 p.m. 5 TIME ENDED : 6:30 p.m. 6 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council M ember O’Donnell, Rafferty , 7 Roeser and Mayor Reinert 8 MEMBERS ABSENT : Cou ncil Member Stoesz 9 10 11 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Finance Director Al Rolek; 12 Public Services Director Rick DeGardner; Community Development Director Michael 13 Grochala; Public Safety Director John Swenson; City Clerk Julie Bartell 14 15 1. 2014 Budget – Finance Director Rolek had redistributed his staff report of July 30, 16 2013 regarding the 2014 Draft Budget and Tax Levy. The report was briefly reviewed. 17 He noted as an update that staff discovered that the city’s electric charges had doubled 18 and upon checking with Xcel Energy, a refund of about $30,000 will be received for 19 2013. As well the 2014 budget can be reduced to reflect lower anticipated charges . 20 Administrator Karlson remarked that at the last budget discussion, staff heard the council 21 ask if there are areas in the budget that can be reduced that do not impact city services. 22 23 Mayor Reinert called for a discussion of budgeting for staff conferen ces/conventions. He 24 understands the premise of attending the events (training, networking, etc) but he knows 25 that in the private sector, this type of activity has shrunk or gone away and is being 26 replaced with on -line communications. Administrator Karl son replied that he has 27 encouraged the directors to b e involved in their professional organizations because it 28 provides the opportunity to network and learn. He doesn’t see it as a huge cost but an 29 area that there is value for the money spent. The mayor noted that it’s important to 30 remember that participation includes paid time away from work; to him, it’s not about the 31 cost however but the value. Council Member Raf ferty remarked that there are still 32 difficult economic times and it’s important to reme mber that the taxpayers are footing the 33 bills. He’d prefer to not see that money spent. The mayor directed staff to put together 34 a report indicating how much is spent on conventions/conferencing so that the council 35 can review the number s and value. 36 37 The council also discussed the process through which the city receives the Certificate of 38 Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. For the cost of going through the 39 process, what is the value? Mr. Rolek explained that it’s helpful in the city’s goal to 40 present its financial documents in the best form and that meets specific criteria. It can 41 also be helpful with the rating agencies. 42 43 When Council Member O’Donnell asked what items are outstanding in the budget at this 44 point, labor contracts a nd health care costs were noted. The mayor noted that the broker 45