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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 12/03/2007 - Truth in Taxation APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL TRUTH-IN-TAXATION HEARING MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2007 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Jon Duckstad and Kathy Nelson CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Parks & Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, City Planner Michael Franzen, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, City Attorney Mark Johnson and Council Recorder Jan Curielli TRUTH-IN-TAXATION PUBLIC HEARING I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Young called the Truth-In-Taxation Hearing to order at 7:00 PM. II. PUBLIC HEARING A. OVERVIEW OF 2008 PROPOSED BUDGET AND TAX LEVY Neal said local governments are required to hold a Truth-in-Taxation hearing on an annual basis on a date that is set by the State. The purpose of the hearing is to invite citizens to give the City Council feedback and input on the City budget. He said Ms Kotchevar will present an overview of the proposed budget. Kotchevar gave a PowerPoint presentation on the 2008 proposed budget and tax levy. She noted there are two members of the Assessing Division present at tonight's meeting who can talk to individuals privately if there are questions about the assessed value of a specific property. She said the purpose of the hearing is to solicit input on the proposed City budget for next year. She noted there will be a public hearing for the Eden Prairie School District budget on December 4, and a public hearing for the Hennepin County budget on December 6. The City Council will adopt the final budget and tax levy on December 18. She reviewed the outcomes and accomplishments of the current budget and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). She summarized the tax impacts of the proposed budget, noting the tax increase for 2008 for a Median Single Family Home will be $11 or a 0.9% increase. She reviewed the total property tax impacts for all taxing entities and gave a summary of the General Fund revenues and expenditures. B. PUBLIC COMMENT AND DISCUSSION Carol Fredrickson, a resident in the Chimney Pines neighborhood, said she wrote a letter to the City Council and to Hennepin County in which she expressed her TRUTH-IN-TAXATION MINUTES December 3, 2007 Page 2 disagreement with the increased property taxes. She noted that real estate values have dropped dramatically since the spring of 2007. There are seven properties for sale in her neighborhood, two of which are the result of foreclosures. She asked that her properties be re-evaluated for the 2008 tax year to more accurately represent the current market values. John Urbanski, 18828 Nature Lane, asked the number and letter name of the proposed budget. Neal said it is Version 1.8. Referring to Page 19 of the Truth-in- Taxation booklet. Urbanski said the Community Development section shows decreases totaling $61,000. He asked for clarification on where those decreases are coming from. Kotchevar said the decrease in social services primarily reflects $30,000 for contracted services moved to the Police Department budget and the decrease for Economic Development was for contracted services that are no longer needed. Urbanski asked if the two positions in Housing and Community Services are still included in the budget. Neal said they are. Nancy Tyra-Lukens, 14695 Queens Trail, said when she joined the City Council 13 years ago there was no Capital Improvement Plan, no financial plan to replace temporary park shelters, no plan to deal with needed maintenance or upgrades, and no plan to provide a needed fourth fire station. In the mid-1990's the Council drafted a CIP and set up funds to pay for the capital improvements along with policies and procedures to follow. In the 2006-2010 CIP we have $119,000,000 of identified capital improvement needs and repairs. Even though about half of the CIP projects are transportation projects that will be funded by other means, we are still left with a staggering amount. The principal method of funding these items is the liquor store revenue and the CIP levy. Her fear is that decreasing the CIP levy will cause us to head down a slippery slope of not meeting the needs of the City. She noted the CIP policy states the City will levy $1,200,000 annually and will increase the amount annually to provide funding for the CIP. She said the $750,000 proposed for 2008 is just more than half of what should be levied at a minimum, and she wondered if the policy has been formally changed or if the City Council has decided to adjust it without addressing the policy issues. She was concerned that the CIP fund will be run down and the City will find itself without money to take care of its assets. She thought we need to be good stewards of the citizens' money, however we also need to be good stewards of the assets all our residents own. She said our citizens' expectations are that Eden Prairie delivers excellent services and has great facilities. She urged the Council to reinstate the CIP levy to the full level because this is not a fund that should be politically tossed around. III. CLOSE OR CONTINUE PUBLIC HEARING MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to close the public hearing. Motion carried 5-0. IV. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Nelson moved to adjourn the Truth-in-Taxation Hearing and reopen the City Council Meeting. TRUTH-IN-TAXATION MINUTES December 3, 2007 Page 3 Butcher said she had a question regarding the Truth-in-Taxation hearing. NELSON WITHDREW THE MOTION. Butcher said she has had concerns about the CIP levy and she asked staff to create another version of the budget that puts back in our commitment to the CIP program to the full $1,000,000 in order to see what that looks like until we have to make a decision on December 18. Neal said he had planned to talk about this during his report. He said we have a budget on the table that is Version 1.8 and what Council Member Butcher is asking for is a proposed budget amendment. To facilitate the process for the December 18 meeting, he asked Council Members to have their requests for a budget amendment to him by the end of the week so staff can prepare a budget amendment for the Council Member to introduce on December 18. He suggested this process because sometimes the Council gets rushed at the last meeting of the year, and this will allow time for staff to write up the ideas and apply some analyses to show what they might cost and what the impact on the tax would be. Young thought that was a good idea. Neal said Council Members could call or email him with the proposed amendments by Friday of this week so they can be distributed with the meeting packets. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Butcher, to adjourn the Truth-in-Taxation Hearing and reopen the City Council Meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Young adjourned the Truth-in-Taxation Hearing at 7:24 PM.