04-13-2006 Charter Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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t CITY �'OF t N KES Memorandum Date: April 7,2006 To: Charter Commission From: Gordon Heitke Re: Responses to March 15, 2006 Charter Commission Memo The following questions (bolded) were included in a March 15, 2006 memo from the Charter Commission. 1) Five Year Plan: passed by City Council and the date that it was passed,if not why not and by what date it will be passed. The Five Year Financial Plan has not been approved by the City Council. A draft plan was presented to the City Council in November, 2005. The City Council has since conducted a retreat this past February for the purposes of discussing council goals and operations. During this session staff presented concerns related to current policies and practices which may result in long term financial challenges for the City and taxpayers. Areas of concern included special assessment policies, street maintenance and reconstruction schedules (per the Pavement Management Plan), outstanding debt and financing decisions on past projects, reduction of state aids, and the impacts of these and other factors on the future financial vitality of city fund balances. The staff also recommended that the City Council assume a much more involved role in analyzing the City's financial policies and conditions and in the development of the Five Year Plan. The City Council accepted the recommendations of staff and have committed to holding special study sessions to conduct a comprehensive review of the City's long-term financial situation. This review will provide the opportunity for the Council to understand fully the long-term financial prospects of the City and the issues which the Council must address relative to those prospects and financial requirements.