Agenda Packets - 2011/03/07 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Item No: 3 Meeting Date: March 7, 2011 Type of Business: Work Session City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Council Discussion about Services Provided by the City Introduction: At the Council / Staff retreat held at Random Park on February 15, the City Council expressed a desire to review and examine the many services performed / provided by City departments as a first step toward delineation of those services considered to be essential, or “core” to the City’s mission and purpose. Discussion: The services, broken down by department, are listed in no particular order. For each service area identified, there are numerous administrative and support functions such as answering phones, communication or responding to residents’ questions which are not included in this initial comprehensive list of services. While the list is intended to be all encompassing, it may be the case that a service was inadvertently left off. If such is the case, the omission should not be considered indicative of its lack of importance. It should be noted that while all services are identified, not all services are supported by the General Fund. Many services (water, sanitary, cable related, to name a few) are outside of the general fund and thus somewhat immune from the consequences and impacts of budget cuts, reduced intergovernmental aid, levy limits or levy freezes, etc. Some other services, while within the general fund, may receive funding or reimbursement from outside sources or agencies, and these are also included undifferentiated from all other City services. Recommendation: Review the general overview and detailed services listed on the following pages and discuss what the next step(s) should be in terms of ascertaining the City’s core, essential services and their corresponding level of service, and how that may relate to budget management. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson City Administrator