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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Advisory Commission - 12/04/2008 APPROVED MINUTES BUDGET ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER 8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie, MN Heritage Room COMMISSION MEMBERS: Don Uram(Chair), Richard King (Vice Chair), Jon Muilenburg, Richard Proops, Gwen Schultz, Annette Agner, Eapen Chacko CITY STAFF: Sue Kotchevar(Finance Manager), Tammy Wilson (Finance Supervisor), Scott Neal (City Manager), Janet Jeremiah (Community Development Director), Ric Rosow (City Attorney), Michael Barone (Assistant to the City Manager), Angie Perschnick(Recording Secretary) I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Chair Uram called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. Commissioners Proops and Schultz were absent. II. MINUTES A. BAC MEETING HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2008 King noted a few changes to the minutes from the October 28 meeting: (1) on p. 2, in paragraph 3, King was not the person who made the statement about the aquifers, (2) King's recollection was that the motion was made to keep the budget the same for 2009 but not to recommend ways to do that. He thought the vote the group took referred only to the budget and not to the tax levy. He suggested removing the parentheses that include reference to the tax levy. (3) King recommended using different wording on page 8 referring to his position regarding the land sale discussed at the October meeting (saying he was not in favor of it, for example,rather than saying he was "not happy" about it). King moved and Muilenburg seconded to approve the minutes from the October 28 meeting. The vote was 3-0 with the newly appointed BAC members (Agner and Chacko) not included since they were not yet sworn in. III. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The purpose of the comprehensive plan is to establish direction for development and redevelopment of Eden Prairie over the next twenty years. The Metropolitan Land Planning Act (1995) needs to be overhauled every ten years. Demographic trends and Eden Prairie Budget Advisory Commission December 4, 2008 Page 2 revisions are made to all chapters and new chapters are added to the plan as needed. Areas of responsibility include development of the Town Center, senior housing and affordable housing needs, development of mixed land use in the Golden Triangle area, land use designation, developing a strategy to maintain the existing housing stock, transit and transportation issues, utilities (additional wells, etc.), redevelopment and economic development, and active community planning. The full Eden Prairie Comprehensive Plan is available online by chapter. It was just distributed to the Metropolitan Council, and they need to review it before it can be fully implemented. Muilenburg asked if a public comment period was provided prior to the adoption of the policy, and Jeremiah responded that a six month period was provided. There have been many proposed uses of the Economic Development fund: (1) There is a bioscience grant of approximately $30,000 to study improvements to the Golden Triangle Area (GTA); an additional $5,000 should be available from the state for this project also. (2) A study is planned for 2009 to study improvements to the Singletree Lane area, and Jeremiah noted that she tried to keep this amount to $400,000 as the BAC recommended last year (the current estimate is that it will be closer to $450,000). (3) In 2009 and 2010, there are Town Center Phase II Design studies planned totaling approximately $150,000. (4) There is a GTA improvements grant match for 2009 or 2010 expected to be about $500,000. (5) Between 2009 and 2015, 20% of the MCA wayfinding phase II signage project is expected to total $150,000. (6) Between 2012 and 2015, $1.6 million is expected to be needed for 20% of the Prairie Center Drive streetscape project. (7) 20% of the remainder of the Singletree Lane streetscape project is expected to amount to $360,000 with timing yet to be determined. (8) 20% of the future north/south main streetscape amounting $400,000 will be needed in a timeframe yet to be determined. (9) $1,491,200 is available as needed for business retention efforts. The total amount of the currently proposed uses of the Economic Development Fund is $5,131,200. Jeremiah noted that the original purpose of the Economic Development Fund was business retention. Some businesses in Eden Prairie have mentioned recently that they have offers from other states and may consider moving. Muilenburg asked what land acquisitions are planned, and Jeremiah responded that they will meet with Wal-Mart soon regarding improvements and redevelopments to their site. IV. ORIENTATION Mike Barone provided the orientation for new and returning BAC members. He explained that the BAC is on a different schedule than other commissions, and the terms follow a calendar year starting in January and ending at the end of December. This allows the group to start at a better time for working with the entire budgeting process. Ric Rosow explained the Data Practices Act, the Open Meeting Law, the Gift Ban Law, and conflicts of interest. King inquired about the use of subcommittees. Rosow recommended that a formally designated subcommittee not be designated, especially if a quorum of 4 individuals were on it. He indicated that 2 or 3 individuals could work separately or together on a problem and that would not cause any problems. Eden Prairie Budget Advisory Commission December 4, 2008 Page 3 Uram asked about the appropriate way to voice a personal opinion when it may be related to the City Commission one is serving on. Rosow responded that, during the discussion, the person with the strong opinion should speak at the meeting as residents do but not take part in the discussion or voting at the table ideally. This is not a requirement but rather a recommendation to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. Residents retain the right to have and express and opinion, but it is better not to preface those comments by stating you are a member of the committee or commission voting on the topic. V. INTRODUCTION TO GOVERNMENT BUDGETING Kotchevar explained the government budgeting process. Best practices recommended by the NACSLB (National Advisory Council on State and local Budgeting) include (1) establishing broad goals, (2) developing approaches to achieve these goals, (3) developing a budget consistent with approaches to achieve goals, and (4) monitor, measure, and evaluate performance. The Eden Prairie City Council will have a retreat in January to develop the budget direction and tweak the strategic plan. Per state statute, the Council makes its annual tax levy by resolution and sets the final budget and levy in December. The City staff prepares budget recommendations early in the year. Then the City Manager reviews and submits a budget to the City Council. The BAC acts in an advisory capacity, which includes reviewing and commenting on budget proposals and proposing budgetary and operational reforms. Other City Commissions have some impact in budget decisions made also. VI. EDEN PRAIRIE PROMISE Scott Neal explained the Eden Prairie Promise. A performance management plan was launched earlier this year as part of the promise. The Eden Prairie Promise provides a motivating and unifying theme for the spirit of public service. City employees take on this promise so residents know that they will strive to meet their goals. Measures and metrics are part of the promise, and many metrics were found within existing data streams that could be easily accessed. An overarching goal for the City is to have all departments succeeding together. They are focused on outcomes that matter to the community (such as public safety), not tactics or efforts. Department heads looked for understandable and meaningful goals, relying on the recent quality of life survey results. The six key results are: (1) a healthy, strong and safe community, (2) a preserved and beautiful environment, (3) a mobile community, (4) satisfied customers (residents/taxpayers), (5) efficient and effective service delivery, and (6) responsive and accessible government. Approximately 32 measures will be tracked. Uram asked if there is a different set of metrics for liquor operations than for other areas. Neal responded that the measures used for liquor operations include sales and ROI. VII. BAC 2009 SCHEDULE AND REPORT Eden Prairie Budget Advisory Commission December 4, 2008 Page 4 Kotchevar proposed that between January and June, the BAC could hear staff discuss the city services they provide. She would like them to talk more about the services they provide in general than about actual future budget numbers that they will be working on during this time. She invited the BAC members to comment on this process as it is somewhat different from the approach used during the previous budget cycle. During June and July, Scott Neal prepares the budget with input received from the BAC, staff, and other commissions. In August, Neal presents the budget to the City Council. Kotchevar wants to make it more flexible so there is some open space in the BAC schedule and the group can concentrate on bigger dollar areas and specific issues. King stated that he agrees overall with the approach, but he would like for the City staff to come back to the BAC and discuss their budget proposals when they are ready. They could come in earlier in the year with the expectation of maintaining current service levels and discuss any additions they are considering to existing services. Then they could come back later on if their plan changes. King noted that there are only two months before Scott presents the budget that have some open time slots available for selected staff to come back and meet with the Commission. Kotchevar noted that there is some time between August and the end of the year where the BAC could meet with specific departments as needed. Scott Neal presents the updated budget in November and the final budget is adopted in December. Uram said the department heads need to react to the budget message they receive from the City Council and Scott Neal. Neal confirmed that they should have this message by the end of January. Neal is less optimistic than Kotchevar that the City will be able to maintain existing service levels over the next couple of years since they are expected to be very financially challenging. Uram noted that the staff would need time to react to the budget direction message before they could accurately present their plans to the BAC. King said it might be best not to have department heads speak at the meetings in January since he wants to hear about their future direction rather than what they do today. King suggested that the BAC could decide to provide input to Neal and the City Council about departments for which the BAC had all of the information necessary to make their recommendations. Then other departments could still be discussed further at BAC meetings before input was provided for them to Neal and the City Council. King noted that the PTO issue is something the BAC could discuss earlier during the year. It was mentioned that Police and Fire are areas that are likely to be the least impacted by the budget direction, so it would be fine to hear those presentations earlier in the year. King thought it would be best to have the HR department present near the beginning of the year since the PTO and state pension fund issues are a significant part of the budget. Kotchevar thought specific staff items (such as personnel costs within an individual department) could be mentioned when each department comes in as opposed to having the HR department present the broader HR costs and decisions (such as whether or not to switch to PTO). King said HR has significant ramifications, and they cannot see overall issues such as possible deployments from one department to another or big issues such as switching to PTO if the HR department does not present to the BAC. Eden Prairie Budget Advisory Commission December 4, 2008 Page 5 Neal clarified that King's position is that it would be helpful to receive the public sector HR overview (including relevant budget items such as accrued severance costs). Muilenburg asked if the BAC can expect to hear from Neal where the City Council wants to go so the BAC can see the overall direction more clearly. Neal responded that this was easier to do in the past when Eden Prairie was growing. They could be less precise and plan to keep existing service levels. Now the staff and Neal will need to be more specific with their numbers in anticipation of setting the expected tax levy. King suggested that the January meeting could include a presentation and discussion around HR issues for half of it, and the other half could be information on the direction from City Council if it is known at that time. Then other departments could be brought in after January when they know the City Council direction. Muilenburg noted they could move Police and Fire to the February meeting since their services are the least mutable. Administrative areas only account for 10% of the budget when combined together, so specific administrative departments are not included in the BAC meetings on the current schedule. Kotchevar can move each departmental area down one month on the schedule and then see which other departments (administrative, etc.) the BAC wants to hear from. King said the information given at the previous department's meetings was useful, including the presentation from Human Resources during the first year the BAC met. Kotchevar proposes staff give a big overall picture of their budgets and then talk about their employees and what they do. She mentioned there are questions on a handout to suggest ideas for what the BAC members may want to ask department heads. Uram asked about the recommendations from the previous meetings and how they were communicated to the City Council. Kotchevar responded that the City Council received copies of reports after they were approved. VIII. CHAIR AND STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS Uram expressed a concern that the economic situation may change over time. If the BAC reviews and makes recommendations starting in January, some of those recommendations may not fit as well with changes that may happen economically and financially for the City over the year. Uram also said that he would prefer the BAC saves significantly more than 10 minutes for discussing possible recommended changes to the budget for the next year (the second year of the two-year budget cycle). That was a big decision to make at the end of the last meeting. King noted that the reason the significant budget recommendation decision was made at the end of the last meeting was due to very recently changed economic conditions. King said the questions Kotchevar handed out are not particularly useful in his view except for the last one that asks what the BAC's recommendations are. It works to solidify the questions along the way and review them. It was clarified that the final byproduct is Kotchevar's report, not the information recorded in the minutes. King said the questions on the handout can be summed up in the recommendation question since the first few questions are fairly superficial. What is important for the BAC is what the group decides to recommend. Muilenburg saw an improvement in 2008 in what was presented to the BAC. What would be helpful to him is to have the City Council Eden Prairie Budget Advisory Commission December 4, 2008 Page 6 direction communicated and then to have the questions customized to each department so each night's meeting can be more useful. Muilenburg noted that if there are any substantive changes, those could be flagged as a big change from what has been done before or talked about earlier in the year. Chacko asked what the BAC makes recommendations about at each meeting. Uram explained that it is an evolving process. The BAC focused on the budget during the first year. During the second year, BAC members made recommendations on the CIP requests discussed at each month's meeting. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting ended at approximately 9:15 PM. King moved and Uram and Muilenburg seconded the motion to adjourn.