05/08/2002 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROVED CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MAY 8, 2002 City Administrator Waite Smith stated she has told Centennial Utilities that the City needs the revenue of approximately $50,000 per year because it is built into the budget. Acting Mayor Reinert stated that part of the problem is there is no franchise fee for Reliant Energy and Centennial Utilities feels that is unfair. Councilmember O'Donnell stated he would like to meet with Centennial Utilities and ask them why they signed the agreement in the first place. Councilmember Carlson stated she would like information relating to what they paid the City versus what they should have paid last year according to the agreement. Finance Director Rolek stated Centennial Utilities would have to figure that out based on their sales revenue from last year. City Administrator Waite Smith advised she will try to schedule a meeting with Centennial Utilities for either the June 5 Council work session or a work session in July. FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN, 2002 - 2006, AL ROLEK City Administrator Waite Smith advised the Council does have the option of continuing the public hearing for the Five Year Plan for more review time. Finance Director Rolek distributed and reviewed the revision that should be included in the draft Five Year Plan. He noted some of the adjustments were made due to the Park referendum not passing. The Five Year Plan is now shown as a balanced budget plan with the estimated expenditures being equal to the estimated revenue. Councilmember Carlson suggested that an explanation be incorporated into the Plan regarding the tax capacity rate in the years to come. Finance Director Rolek noted that the document will change over time and it will be revised every year. Acting Mayor Reinert stated his thoughts on the Plan are that if you had a City that did not grow at all you would not need to increase the budget except for the increases in inflation and cost of living. This Plan shows almost a 50% increase in spending. He stated he then looked at the 147 homes that will be built per year and calculated the increases and a 50% increase in spending is still too much. Finance Director Rolek stated staff took a historical view regarding the City and spending. The City can sustain 200 new homes per year for the next few years. Growth in the tax base was 11% to 14% in past years. Staff used a 10% figure to calculate spending within the Five Year Plan. •