2009.12.07 CC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Hugo City Council Minutes for December 7, 2009 Page 5 of 10 section that addressed the application process for applying for a burning permit. Councilmember Petryk pointed out a conflict between the ordinance and permit application in regard to burning leaves. Haas made motion, Klein seconded, to table the item to allow staff to make minor wording changes, include a section on the permit application process, and make changes to the permit application. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approve Resolution Approving 2010 Salary and Reimbursement Levels Councilmember Haas removed this item from the Consent Agenda. During the 2010 budget process, the City Council indicated its desire to hold the City's salary matrix at 2009 levels with no cost of living adjustments but to grant step increases to those employees who have not yet reached their pay grade maximums. The proposed resolution is based on a zero percent adjustment to the city's salary matrix; however, the net increase due to step adjustments amounts to $24,154. Although this represents an overall increase of 1.81 %, the employees will now be responsible for annual health insurance deductibles of $1,600 for single coverage and $3,200 for employee and dependent coverage. As a result, the city will save $5,342 in insurance premiums while the employees will be exposed to an aggregate deductible of $40,000. More importantly, the adjustments will continue to allow the City to be in compliance with the State of Minnesota Pay Equity Statutes. The law specifically requires that cities develop and administer compensation systems that establish and maintain equitable relationships between female - dominated and male -dominated job classes. The City's compensation system was found to be in compliance by the Minnesota Department of Employee Relations in October, 2003, and was reviewed again in January, 2008 with results pending. Haas make motion, Petryk seconded, to adopt RESOLUTION 2009-42 SETTING 2010 SALARIES FOR CITY EMPLOYEES AND ESTABLISHING EMPLOYEE REIMBURSEMENT LEVELS. All Ayes. Motion carried. Approve 2010 City Budget and Tax Lew On September 8, 2009, the City Council adopted a preliminary 2010 tax levy and scheduled a public budget hearing for this evening. The date and location of the hearing was certified to Washington County and is contained in the parcel specific tax notices sent out by the county. Finance Director Ron Otkin provided a final budget and tax levy presentation comparing the City of Hugo's urban tax rate of 34.443% and rural tax rate of 31.258% with the average City rate of all Minnesota cities of 36.960% and the average of 30 comparative cities in the metro area of 34.650%. Ron also pointed out that, unlike many other cities, Hugo receives no LGA. City Assessor Frank Langer explained that though rural market values were down, agriculture market values were up significantly due to law changes. Seventy-seven parcels in Hugo lost their Agricultural classification and 34 properties lost their Green Acres designation.