08/24/1999 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL BUDGET SESSION AUGUST 24,1999 Anoka County will not be constructing any new trails in the Regional Park this year. This will delay the plan to install the new trail on Mallard Lane into the Regional Park. In addition, the City has been informed that the DNR grant that would have helped fund the Mallard Lane trail cannot be used for that,purpose. Council discussed the need to review the funding for the Mallard Lane trail. Council also directed staff to prepare a timeline for the trail and let residents in that area know what is happening. Council Member Lyden asked that Council discuss the entire trail funding system. He is interested in dedicating additional funding for trails. He also indicated that he would agree to keep the tax capacity rate at the same level as last yearif the Council agreed to dedicate the additional dollars to trail funding. Staff indicated that the State Legislature has set the maximum amount of levy for the City and the City cannot exceed that amount. Staff could shift some purchases to the Certificates of Indebtedness and place a similar amount in trail funding in the budget. However, the amount of dollars affected by this process would be less than $15,000. Council decided that this amount wnsignificant and agreed to leave the budget as presented by staff. Staff discussed a plan to reduce large ticket expenditures f it suggested that when a new finance director is on board, staff pr : e .1. R to the vehicle replacement plan used by the Centennial Fire o =�' oli:� epartment. Recreation, Rick DeGardner Salaries - No additional pe o fob' temporary personnel increased to compete with other e as cDonalds. There are no oth. ' i . t increases in this budget except for insurance coverage. The Council took ive (5) minute break. Sewer Utility Department, Rick DeGardner The Sewer Department is an enterprise of the City and not covered in the General Fund Budget. However, the City is required to prepare a budget for its operation. The budget was prepared to reflect the actual costs of performing the service for the users of the system. Salaries - No added personnel. Salaries are based on the union contract. A 50 cent an hour increase was added to seasonal salaries. Again, this was done to compete with other employers such as McDonalds. Maintenance Supplies - This increase reflects the growing usage of the sewer system. Contracted Services - The City is continuing to retrofit older manholes. PAGE 4