11/29/1990 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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1991 COUNCIL BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING NOVEMBER 29, 1990 Richard Zelinka, 7033 Lakeview Drive asked who prepared Exhibit A (Notice of Proposed Property Tax for 1991). He felt it was a stupid document. Mr. Schumacher explained the form was prepared by Anoka County as required by the State of Minnesota. It was then printed by the City in the local paper. The City cannot change the wording and must print the notice as prepared by the County. Mr. Schumacher explained that he published an article along with this notice telling that the notice was misleading and that the City was not proposing to increase property taxes by 21.8 %. Mr. Zelinka said he expected to see residents at this meeting with shotguns. Mr. Zelinka said he apologized to the Council since they did not prepare the statement. Nick Nagan, 850 Olive Street said he was glad that the City Council published Exhibit D (1991 Adjusted Preliminary Expenditure Summary Worksheet). He noted that the expenses for the Police Department are going up. He said he hoped that two (2) officers would be laid off since Lino Lakes will not be covering the City of Centerville. Mr. Nagan said he felt the budget for Forestry was outrageous as well as the reserve for salary expenses. He felt these areas should be cut and noted that the salaries of the Lino Lakes citizens were not going up as fast as City employees. Council Member Reinert said some areas of Exhibit D need to be clarified. Mr. Nagan said that he felt that some of the salary reserve would not go to current employees but for new employees. Mr. Schumacher explained that since there are two unions representing some City employees, some of the salary reserve is already dedicated to union settlements. He also noted that it is difficult to determine the total salary adjustment for each year. That is why a lump sum is set aside. When all contracts have been negotiated the salary reserve portion of the budget is reduced by the amount of the settlements. Mr. Schumacher also noted that $60,000.00 was put in salary reserve for 1990 salary adjustments. The amount shown on Exhibit D is what is left in the reserve after all salary adjustments were made. Mr. Schumacher addressed the Forestry Department of the 1991 Budget. He noted that people who have trees are concerned about protecting them. He explained that Anoka County has purchased a vibratory plow for the control of Oak Wilt. The City of Lino Lakes participated in the purchase in the amount of $11,775.00. It is hoped that with the use of this plow, Oak Wilt can be eliminated. The City does charge the cost of the use of the plow to the landowner. This charge is shown on the Revenue Budget. When the plow is used, the homeowner is charged for that use and there is no profit or loss for the City. Once the $11,775.00 is recovered, the cost of the use of the plow should be reduced. Mr. Schumacher noted that there has been very limited man hours in the City parks. The 1991 Parks Department budget is looking PAGE 3 1 1 1