HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/13/2003 Council MinutesCITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 13, 2003
APPROVED
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3 CITY OF LINO LAKES
4 MINUTES
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6 DATE : August 13, 2003
7 TIME STARTED : 5:40 p.m.
8 TIME ENDED : 8:45 p.m.
9 MEMBERS PRESENT : Mayor Bergeson, Carlson, Dahl, O'Donnell
10 and Reinert
11 MEMBERS ABSENT : None
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13 Staff members present: City Administrator, Linda Waite Smith; Director of
14 Administration, Dan Tesch; City Clerk, Ann Blair; Community Development Director,
15 Michael Grochala (part); Public Services Director, Rick DeGardner; and Public Safety
16 Director, Dave Pecchia
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18
19 BUDGET OVERVIEW (AL ROLEK AND LINDA WAITE SMITH)
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21 Finance Director Rolek stated the 2004 budget is proposed to be $237,000 less than the
22 2003 budget. This will be due to reductions in state aid. The City will lose $546,000 of
23 state aid, but will be allowed to levy back 60 percent of the amount lost. He also stated
24 there will be no growth factor for this budget.
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26 Management Team Goals — Finance Director Rolek stated the management team's goals
27 for the 2004 budget were: to maintain current service levels to residents and businesses;
28 ensure that each department has adequate resources (staff and equipment) to perform
29 basic functions; provide for replacement of worn capital equipment; and provide a
30 contingency fund in the budget for unforeseen circumstance that arise during the year.
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32 Major Factors — Finance Director Rolek reviewed the major factors in preparing the 2004
33 proposed budget. He stated the following: the state legislature cut 100 percent of City's
34 Local Government Aid ($157,735) and Market Value Credit ($389,081); levy limits do
35 not allow for growth but do allow recovery of 60 percent of state aid cuts (the
36 proposedbudget includes that 60 percent); revenues were adjusted to reflect actual historic
37 revenue streams and anticipated future revenue considering economic conditions; all
38 departments werescrutinized and cut to allow for reduced budget in light of state aid cuts;
39 there is an allowance for salary and wage adjustments, which allows for step increases,
40 contract negotiations and market adjustments; no new personnel positions are proposed;
41 due to state aid cuts capital equipment replacement financing reverts to use of certificate
42 of indebtedness; and this proposal maintains a contingency in the budget for unforeseen
43 needs.
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45 Budget Process / Calendar — Finance Director Rolek then reviewed the 2004 budget
46 calendar noting September 8, 2003 is the deadline for approval of the proposed 2004
47 budget and maximum tax levy which must be certified to the County Auditor by
• 48 September 15.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 13, 2003
APPROVED
1 Tax Levy / Tax Rate / Tax Impact — Finance Director Rolek stated the proposed levy
• 2 would be $5,509,147 and this figure does not include tax abatement and the debt levy,
3 which are both outside levy limit restrictions. The total proposed levy would be
4 $6,550,620, which will be a 6.96 percent increase from last year. The increase makes up
5 for the loss of state aid. The increase in tax capacity, which has grown over 17 percent
6 because of Target and Kohl's, means the tax rate will go down, despite the 6.96% levy
7 increase.
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9 Capital Equipment / Use of Certificates of Indebtedness — Finance Director Rolek stated
10 $271,000 in certificates are proposed to be issued for capital equipment for police, fire
11 and fleet.
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13 REVENUE PROJECTIONS (AL ROLEK)
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15 Finance Director Rolek explained the Market Value Homestead Credit and Local
16 Government Aid will be zero for 2004. MSA and Police Aid funds will remain intact. He
17 stated the City has not heard about the COPS Grant as of today and license and permit
18 fees will be about the same as last year. Also, staff is looking into more charges for
19 services such as streetlight and gas meter fees.
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21 City Administrator Waite Smith explained the City received a letter from Centennial
22 Utilities regarding franchise fees. She stated this item would be discussed further at the
23 next City Council work session.
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• 25 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (MIKE GROCHALA)
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27 Community Development Director Grochala reviewed the proposed 2004 budget for
28 Community Development.
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30 Economic Development — Community Development Director Grochala stated the
31 proposed Economic Development budget would be down 12 percent because of less use
32 of contracted services.
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34 Building Inspections — Community Development Director Grochala stated this item is
35 proposed to be about the same with a .06 percent increase due to personnel services and a
36 decrease in expenditures.
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38 Engineering — Community Development Director Grochala stated this item is proposed to
39 decrease by $10,000 due to a new lump sum billing by the consultant.
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41 City Administrator Waite Smith explained the analysis of contract engineering services
42 and recommendation for Year 2004. Staff prepared an estimate to establish an in-house
43 staff of five people. She stated this estimate reflects what TKDA currently does on
44 contract. She further explained the City may be able to further recoup money in-house by
45 charging for plan reviews and escrows. She reviewed the recommendation, which was to
46 continue the TKDA contract throughout 2004; include an in-house City Engineer in the
47 2005 budget at $106,000; continue with TKDA on a reduced contract in 2005 to provide
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48 a transition period; hire the in-house City Engineer the first quarter of 2005; include the
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 13, 2003
APPROVED
1 balance of the in-house Engineering staff in the 2006 budget at $309,000; eliminate the
2 TKDA contract for general engineering services in the 2006 budget; start the recruitment
3 process for in-house engineering staff members in the last quarter of 2005; and provide
4 general engineering service with City staff beginning 2006.
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6 PUBLIC SAFETY (DAVE PECCHIA)
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8 Public Safety Director Pecchia reviewed the proposed 2004 budget for Public Safety.
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10 Police — Public Safety Director Pecchia advised the overall Public Safety budget has a
11 proposed one percent increase. He stated there will be a major cut in overtime and drug
12 testing may be eliminated. If there is an event that requires a lot of overtime, the
13 depai tnient will need to come back to the Council for additional funds.
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15 City Administrator requested Public Safety Director Peccia mention the state
16 reimbursement for training.
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18 Public Safety Director Pecchia stated the City usually receives $300 to $450 per officer in
19 state aids. He also stated the Public Safety department would be looking into
20 administrative fines, as some other cities are doing.
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22 Councilmember O'Donnell questioned if Public Safety Director Pecchia is confident the
23 department can provide the necessary services to residents.
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25 Public Safety Director Pecchia stated the department is falling behind. If the Five -Year
26 staffing plan had been followed, there would be two more officers now. He stated with
27 the increase of commercial businesses in the City, there is more need for police services.
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29 Councilmember Carlson asked if there has been an increase in the number of calls.
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31 Public Safety Director Pecchia stated overall there has been a five- percent increase. Part
32 1 and 2 crimes were up 8.25 percent and other calls were up 3.5 percent.
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34 Councilmember Reinert stated the Council must address this issue in the next budget
35 process.
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37 Mayor Bergeson questioned if the option to merge with other cities to provide public
38 safety is still on the table.
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40 Public Safety Director Pecchia stated if that were to happen many things need to be taken
41 into consideration.
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43 Mayor Bergeson stated this needed to be determined before the budget is finalized.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 13, 2003
APPROVED
1 Fire — Finance Director Rolek stated the proposed fire contract will be 1.2 percent lower
2 than last year. The budget has not been presented to the steering committee yet so it has
3 not been formally approved. Also, an increase for the Chief was not included in the
4 budget and this may require some shifting in the budget.
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6 Mayor Bergeson questioned what the other cities in the Fire District are doing for salary
7 increases..
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9 City Administrator Waite Smith stated Centerville has approved a three percent increase.
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11 PUBLIC SERVICES (RICK DEGARDNER)
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13 Public Services Director DeGardner reviewed the proposed 2004 budget for Public
14 Services.
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16 Councilmember Carlson questioned how many additional miles of streets did the City
17 have to maintain.
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19 Public Services Director DeGardner stated they have added six additional miles since last
20 year and there are 202 total lane miles.
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22 Fleet — Public Services Director DeGardner stated this item is proposed to be 42 percent
23 less than last year due to the use of certificates of indebtedness.
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25 Government Buildings — Public Services Director DeGardner stated the price of heat is
26 estimated to increase 30 percent from last year.
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28 Parks — Public Services Director DeGardner stated the depaitwent is proposing to reduce
29 overtime by two thousand dollars by reducing the supervised rinks to two and leaving
30 two unsupervised. Parks will also only plow selected trails and reduce broadleaf weed
31 control for the parks.
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33 City Administrator Waite Smith advised that if the winter requires more snow plowing
34 than usual, this department may need additional funds for overtime.
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36 Recreation — Public Services Director DeGardner stated this department is proposing to
37 eliminate an additional rink attendant in addition to the eliminated rink attendant from
38 last year. Also, professional services are proposed to decrease by 72 percent due to
39 producing the newsletter in-house from now on.
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41 City Administrator Waite Smith stated the recreation programs are self-supporting and
42 even show a slight profit in some areas.
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44 Councilmember Carlson questioned if the programs are growing with the City.
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46 Public Service Director DeGardner stated they have grown tremendously and there is a
47 demand for more, but gym space is limited. If the Recreation Department is to keep up
48 with demand, space will be needed.
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 13, 2003
APPROVED
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• 2 SPECIAL REVENUE / UTILITIES (RICK DEGARDNER)
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4 Public Services Director DeGardner reviewed the proposed 2004 budget for special
5 revenue/utilities. He stated the supplies line item in the water utility is proposed to be
6 reduced by 50 percent due to the completion of the MIU meter replacement program. He
7 also stated the sewer utility is proposed to increase 9.26 percent due to higher volumes
8 and higher rates by MCES.
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10 Finance Director Rolek stated the rates are up for review again this fall to determine the
11 rate structure for 2004.
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13 ADMINISTRATION / FINANCE (DAN TESCH / AL ROLEK)
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15 Director of Administration Tesch reviewed the proposed 2004 budget for
16 Administration/Finance.
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18 Mayor & Council — Director of Administration Tesch explained the proposed budget for
19 Mayor & Council would be decreased 5.15 percent.
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21 Administration — Director of Administration Tesch stated the Timesavers expenditure
22 would be decreased due to less detail in the minutes.
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• 24 Finance — Finance Director Rolek stated there is a proposed 2.89 percent decrease in the
25 finance department budget.The proposal does not include funds for a future upgrade for
26 financial software. He also stated they would begin an analysis for an in-house assessor
27 for 2005.
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29 Other — Finance Director Rolek stated the contingency fund is also proposed to decrease.
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31 Personnel — City Administrator Waite Smith stated salaries were not market adjusted last
32 year, but the proposed budget does include these adjustments. She stated if the City
33 strives for average market salaries that it eases labor negotiations. Earlier this year it look
34 as if there would be no salary increases and the unions agreed that saving jobs were more
35 important than the increases.
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37 Mayor Bergeson stated all employees would like cost -of -living adjustment increases and
38 some positions are out of sync with the market averages. Because there are limited funds,
39 is one more important than the other.
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41 City Administrator Waite Smith stated parameters need to be set first and that they should
42 not treat managers and non -managers differently.
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44 Councilmember Carlson requested historical information for the last three years about
45 salary increases for each position.
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• 47 City Administrator Waite Smith stated this information would be available at the next
48 City Council meeting.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 13, 2003
APPROVED
SET DATES: ADOPT MAXIMUM LEVY (9/8)
TRUTH IN TAXATION HEARING (12/8)
Mayor Bergeson stated staff did a good job with the budget and he had no concerns with
this budget.
Councilmember O'Donnell stated he liked the way the budget was organized.
Finance Director Rolek stated next Wednesday there would be another budget discussion.
The Wednesday after Labor Day will be another opportunity to discuss it.
Mayor Bergeson questioned if labor negotiations would be completed after the budget
was approved.
City Administrator Waite Smith stated that was correct.
Council consensus was reached to schedule adoption of the levy on September 8, 2003
and the Truth in Taxation Hearing on December 8, 2003.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on
September 8, 2003.
Ann Blai&C ity Clerk
Transcribed by:
Robin Leslie
TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.
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