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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.e. Minutes of September 28, 2005 Special Council Work SessionITEM f5 E ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a City Council Special Work Session was held on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 6:33 p.m. m the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Droste called the meeting to order with Council Members DeBettignies, Baxter, Shoe Corrigan, and Sterner present. Also in attendance were City Administrator Verbrugge, Assistant City Administrator Weitzel, City Clerk Jentink, City Engineer Brotzler, Operations Superintendent Cook, and Finance Director May. DISCUSSION 2006 City Budget City Administrator Verbrugge presented the proposed city budget for 2006. Mr. Verbrugge explained the meeting will consider the long -term goals (the Key Financial Strategies -KFS) and then a detailed review of each city department mcludmg budgets for the City Council, Administration, Public Works, and Engineering. Budgets for Police, Fire, Finance, Community Development, and Parks and Recreation will be considered at the work session on October 26. Mr. Verbrugge pointed out that the tax rate has been declining for four straight years. The combination of market value increasing and new growth has contributed to that. The state legislature placed a limit on the city levy amount which also influenced the decline. Mr. Verbrugge noted the Market Value Home Credit revenue from the state was reduced by $350,000 and operational expenses have increased 3 Staff believes the assessed home value is catching up to the true sale value showing about an 8% increase. Fuel costs are predicted to increase this year. Mr. Verbrugge stated it is up to the Council to decide how to influence Rosemount's tax rate. The residents' survey showed soft support for any tax increases to support city spending. Mayor Droste noted that last year there was an excess fund balance of $590,000. Mt. Droste indicated a yearly review of last year's strategy for the tax rate would be helpful. Mr. Droste stated Rosemount has higher taxes than surrounding cities and he would like to see that change. The City increase is significant and Mt. Droste noted that we are growing the government faster than the population. Ms. Shoe Corrigan inquired what is a reasonable tax rate. Mr. Droste stated the City has not been able to offer amenities to residents even with the higher tax rate. Mr. Droste commented he is okay with the presented protections, but Rosemount will likely be the highest tax rate city m Dakota County. Mr. Droste believed 36% to 44% o range would be a reasonable goal in 2 to 5 years, noting you can't get there overnight. Rosemount's tax rate is going down 1.3 Mr Droste believed that many home values will be increasing by double digits. Mr. Droste indicated he still wants to cut operation expenses, look at efficiencies, use realistic revenue numbers, and push toward the set goal. Council Member Shoe Corrigan encouraged staff to rein in some line items and question if we really need to add staff. Ms. Shoe Corrigan noted that residents are lookmg at a hard year with a school ley. Northwest Airlines employee decline, and school class size increasing by six children. She inquired if the City needs to buy new trucks, or can the City make due Residents are asking for amenities like the library and a new athletic complex. Mr. Verbrugge responded that these are the items for discussion he would expects tonight and at next month's budget meeting. Baxter inquired about the amount of increase and Mr. Verbrugge explained the combined amounts of $350,000 MVHC loss, $550,000 new debt, and $400,000 operations growth totals $1.35 milhon. 1 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 Mayor Droste inquired how efficiency with public works shifts might lengthen the time for city services. Operations Superintendent Cook replied he didn't have enough staff to cover split shifts. Mr. Cook stated public works employees have combmed their breaks and lunch to economize time that was spent going back and forth to the shop. Mr. Droste stated some cities, Burnsville and Chanhassen, contract for snow plowing. Mr. Verbrugge noted that Chns Watson, management analyst and Mr. Cook are working with performance and best practices by tracking tasks Mr. Verbrugge believed once a good trend line is established, perhaps then it would be beneficial to cost out jobs and justify contracting versus doing work in house. Council Member Baxter stated that the general policy decisions follow trends. Mr. Baxter admitted that a percentage of the population is empty nesters who are not interested m parks. Mr. Baxter pointed out that no one is interested m a decrease m the level of city services. He stated finding efficiencies is the best way to lower expenses. Mr. Verbrugge recalled the ICMA Performance Center which used labor intensive and comparative data, but found they could not compare jobs across the country due to variables. It was not comparing apples to apples. Assistant City Administrator Weitzel reported the City uses an evaluation process now comparing services to supply. Most increases in the 2006 budget are due to personnel additions and increases for existing employee salanes and benefits. Mr. Droste questioned how many policy; officers are necessary and inquired if the City could get by with fewer. Mr. Verbrugge noted that staffing is based on one per 1000 of population. There are 19 officers at this tune, and the population is estimated by staff at 20,000. Ms. Shoe Corrigan said the bottom line is that increases need to be justified. Council Budget Mr. Verbrugge explained that the Council budget focused on communication with residents. Funds were set aside for newspaper articles, open houses, a survey, educational opportunities, vanous organizational dues, and a HiPP joint powers agreement. Several council members questioned the need now for a pool feasibility study for $20,000 and the consensus was to cut this from the budget. Mr. DeBettigmes suggested having more neighborhood meetings, perhaps in a different park weekly. National Night Out was applauded for resident input. Council suggested down sizing the community survey and cutting the allotted $18,000 to $9,000. Administration Budget Mr. Verbrugge reported that new spending included a Space Needs Study for $30,000 that would project a plan out ten to fifteen years for city facilities. Mayor Droste recalled the last similar study was done m 1991. The study enables the City to create a plan within the capital improvement plan so funds can be accumulated and less debt incurred. Council was not convinced that the tuning was right for this survey. City Engineer Brotzler noted that last year an expansion was suggested for a public works building and Council wanted staff to justify it. Mr. Brotzler suggested this Space Needs Study would be a method to justify the need or prove otherwise Mr. Droste questioned whether the study would be necessary in 2006. Mayor Droste asked for a majonty poll on whether to pull the space needs study or not: Shoe Corngan, DeBettigimes, Baxter and Sterner agreed to keep the study. 2 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 Ms. Weitzel pointed out that human resource expenses were moved together into an accounting group within the administration budget Ms. Shoe Corrigan questioned the amount spent on employment advertising and employee training. Ms. Weitzel noted the amount is an estimate since it is unknown how much turnover there may be. Mr. Verbrugge stated there has been good response from employees who have attended training classes and it has helped employee morale. Ms. Weitzel stated that Dakota County has been contacted for professional speakers that may do internal training. Elections Council indicated the elections are necessary and the cost is established. No changes were made. General Government Council Member Sterner inquired about combining the equipment purchases with copy machine leases. Finance Director May reported that the copy machines are placed m centralized areas and shared by staff. Mr. May explained the funds designated for Springsted are for reporting requirements necessary for bonds that have been previously issued. Government Buildings Mr. Verbrugge pointed out the fuel increases to gas and electric utilities. Council discussed cutting back the clean up days from two to one. Mr. Droste stated the city hired a code enforcement official to encourage residents to keep property well kept and the clean up day also does that. No changes were made m the budget, however, Council encouraged staff to be conservative. Public Works Fleet Maintenance Mr. Verbrugge reported that the increase in the fleet maintenance was driven by employee cost increases. There were no new costs. The percentage increase was based on past needs. No changes were made. Mayor Droste called for a short break at 8:51 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 9:00 p.m. Public Works Street Maintenance City Engineer Brotzler noted he was available for questions and discussion on the Pavement Management Program. The administrative fee is $7,500 for use of the software with WSB Engineering. Mayor Droste stated many of the street repairs are subjective. Mr. Brotzler explained there is a rating system which can be run through a model program to estimate the hours needed for repairs. Staff also records how many hours are used to repair areas which can then be tracked on an annual basis. Mr. Brotzler noted that the goal of the Pavement Management Program is to provide the City with an effective tool to maintain City Streets at a pre determined level which would maximize the pavement hfe. This approach should maximize the pavement hfe for up to 60 years. The program uses an average pavement condition (PCI) index of 75 to be maintained on all streets. This could be lowered and thereby spread the cost over a longer time Council consensus was to assign 70 to 75 PCI to collector streets and 60 PCI to residential streets. Ivlr Sterner supported 75 PCI on all streets. Mr. May reviewed the revenue from SKB Environmental at $200,000 for street CIP. This originated when SKB changed their landscape closure plan and arranged to give the City an additional amount over a set number of years. 3 Mr. Sterner asked if sidewalks are included in the Pavement Management Program. Mr. Brotzler noted that sidewalks are not included. Mr. Brotzler stated he would order site surveys for the areas scheduled for improvement and plan communication with the residents affected. UPDATES Council Member Shoe Corrigan reported that there are some staff members at the High School that have the misconception that the flooding of the school gym was caused by the City's ponding system. Mr. Verbrugge said he will contact the Superintendent's office to clarify the issue. Mr. Verbrugge reported that the Fire Station bids due tomorrow will likely be higher than anticipated due to the effect of Hurricane Katrina. Also, the City Hall remodeling cost estimates came in 47% higher than expected. Ms. Weitzel stated the mechanical work and ductwork was more extensive than projected. Mr. May reported the plumbing and fixtures have not been upgraded since 1986. Mr. DeBettigrues remarked that if Council would delay this it would likely cost much more in the future. Motion by Mayor Droste adjourned the meeting at 9:51 p.m. The City Council's Agenda Packet is Clerk's File 2005 -39. ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 4 Respectfully subnutted, Linda Jentink, City Clerk Recording Secretary