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2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />.45 <br />46 <br />SPECIAL COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br />APPROVED <br />DATE <br />TIME STARTED <br />TIME ENDED <br />MEMBERS PRESENT <br />MEMBERS ABSENT <br />CITY OF LINO LAKES <br />MINUTES <br />AUGUST 30, 2005 <br />: August 30, 2005 <br />. 5:08 p.m. <br />. 8:35 p.m. <br />: Council Members Carlson, Dahl, <br />Reinert, Stoltz and Mayor Bergeson <br />: None <br />Staff members present: City Administrator, Gordon Heitke; Community Development <br />Director, Mike Grochala; Director of Administration, Dan Tesch; Finance Director, Al <br />Rolek; Public Services Director, Rick DeGardner; and Chief of Police, Dave Pecchia <br />Mayor Bergeson advised the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the proposed 2006 <br />Budget. The Council had determined at the last work session that approximately <br />$380,000 should be cut from the budget. There is one more work session before the City <br />must certify the levy. <br />Finance Director Rolek stated as directed by the City Council, staff has reviewed the <br />2006 proposed budget and has identified areas that may be adjusted to maintain a tax rate <br />consistent with 2005. The amount necessary to adjust the budget to maintain a level tax <br />rate is estimated to be $388,000. The Council directed that staff identify at least <br />$500,000 in adjustments. <br />Finance Director Rolek stated in approaching these adjustments staff would like the <br />Council to consider the following comments. Staff had initially proposed to adjust the <br />levy in the form of an "overlevy" to backfill funding due to state aid cuts. Other cities <br />that are affected by these state aid losses have taken a similar approach of increasing their <br />levy to ensure city services are maintained. State aid payments, Local Government Aid, <br />(LGA) and Market Value Homestead Credit (MVHC), to Lino Lakes have been <br />suspended or eliminated for the past four years. In doing so, the state has essentially <br />redefined how services are funded, and shifted the burden of funding certain services <br />from the state to the local level. This is unlikely to change in the future given the <br />condition of state finances. Therefore, staff is viewing these cuts as permanent. <br />Additionally, the reimplementation of levy limits in the future is a real possibility. As <br />such, staff is approaching the adjustments as permanent and the possibility of `levying up' <br />to add these cuts back into the budget in the future is doubtful. Finally, the City's tax <br />base has been growing, but the growth has slowed recently. Any new developments on <br />the horizon will not have an impact on the tax base until after 2008, possibly impacting <br />the City's ability to maintain service level funding in the near term. <br />Finance Director Rolek stated staff had identified $122,053 as potential adjustments in <br />the initial budget discussion, which staff refers to as "Tier 1" adjustments. Further <br />1 <br />