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<br />Update after Budget Workshop – Council generally agreed that the franchise fees would be dedicated to a
<br />particular capital purpose. To that end, we removed the franchise fee revenue from the General Fund,
<br />increased the tax revenue in that fund, and decreased the Infrastructure Reserve Levy. (Final decision on
<br />where those funds get designated can come at a later date. Additional discussion is planned for the October
<br />workshop.)
<br />
<br />A fiscal disparities distribution is another larger revenue of the city. This can vary significantly year-to-
<br />year. Preliminary Fiscal Disparity Distribution for 2025 are currently $ 433,937, an 11.3% increase from
<br />2024.
<br />
<br />Total taxes for the General Fund operations budget are planned to decrease by 9%, as we shift from capital
<br />transfers out of the general fund to capital levies. Additional information on this recommendation and the
<br />overall levy is later in this memo.
<br />
<br />Salary and Benefits
<br />The 2025 preliminary budget is currently being prepared with assumptions of moving staff to the next step
<br />of the pay plan on January 1, 2025, including a proposed 3% COLA increase. For new or vacant positions,
<br />they are budgeted at the midpoint of the range. Medical benefits are budgeted to increase by 10% as we
<br />won’t receive final numbers until late-September/early-October so a contingency has been included at this
<br />point. Staff will revise by the time of final adoption in December.
<br />
<br />Despite the expected increase in rates, staff was able to reduce the budgeted health and dental insurance
<br />amounts by utilizing the actual health plan of an employee, rather than the most expensive plan, as was the
<br />past practice. This change saved approximately $120,000 overall compared to what it would have been
<br />using the prior practice, and saved almost $23,000 over the 2024 budgeted amount. Council should note
<br />that actual expenditures will not change; we are simply utilizing a different budgeting approach. We will
<br />revise insurance costs after open enrollment, so they may increase or decrease for the final budget in
<br />December.
<br /> There are some new staff positions recommended in Administration and Public Works. See attached
<br />memos for more information. (Memos in August 27 workshop packet only.)
<br />
<br />Divisions/Department Budgets
<br />The following sections summarize the expense budgets for each division and department. Detailed budgets
<br />for each department are available in the Appendices.
<br />
<br />A requested change in practice regarding how we manage capital set-asides create a significant change in
<br />the department budgets. Moving vehicle transfers and the street maintenance transfer out of the general
<br />fund budget and into separate capital levies had varying degrees of impact on departments, and is most
<br />impactful on the Streets Dept because of the Street Maintenance transfer of $600,000 per year. This will
<br />impact the year-over-year change this year but should make our processes more efficient and the operations
<br />budget more transparent in future years.
<br />
<br />General Government
<br /> General Government includes the following departments that manage the overall administration, financial
<br />management and development of the city.
<br />
<br />Dept # Department Name 2022 Actual 2023 Actual 2024 Budget 2025 Requested Change
<br />1110 Mayor & Council 53,123 56,842 66,121 71,328 8%
<br />1320 Administration 454,233 506,102 660,504 720,224 9%
<br />1410 Elections 12,556 3,646 16,658 8,315 -50%
<br />1450 Communications 22,978 50,812 - - -
<br />1520 Finance 115,100 174,557 280,813 363,363 29%
<br />1910 Planning & Zoning 277,963 217,156 473,149 524,459 11%
<br />1930 Engineering Services 30,975 32,855 35,000 35,000 0%
<br />1940 City Hall 45,996 36,687 - - -
<br /> Total General Government 1,012,924 1,078,658 1,532,245 1,722,689 12%
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