City Council - 08/17/2010 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM
TUESDAY,AUGUST 17, 2010 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOM II
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Council Members Brad Aho, Ron Case, Jon Duckstad, and
Kathy Nelson
CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Rob Reynolds, Fire Chief George Esbensen,
Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and
Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Ric
Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Heritage Room H
Mayor Young was absent.
I. 2011 BUDGET
Neal presented a PowerPoint on the proposed 2011 budget. He said the tentative 2011
budget was approved by the City Council in late 2009 as part of the two-year budget cycle.
Neal said there are slight differences in the original proposed budget and the updated budget
being presented tonight. Proposed service levels are the same; however, the numbers are
more precise.
2010 2011 2011
Adopted Proposed Percent Proposed Difference Percent
12/1/2009 12/1/2009 Difference Change 8/17/2010 from 2010 Change
General $ $
Fund 27,999,013 28,836,887 $ 837,874 3.0% $ 28,750,945 $751,932 2.7%
MVHC 490,042 490,042 0 0.0% 490,042 0 0.0%
Capital
Improvement
Fund 89,894 89,894 0 0.0% 89,894 0 0.0%
Debt Service 1,770,724 1,760,724 (10,000) (0.6%) 1,760,724 (10,000) (0.6%)
HRA 200,000 200,000 0 0.0% 200,000 0 0.0%
Market
Value Debt 1,660,000 1,670,000 10,000 0.6% 1,670,000 10,000 0.6%
Less Fiscal
Dispardy
Distribution (1,696,687) (1,696,687) 0 0.0% (1,600,000) 96,687 (5.7%)
Total Levy $30,512,986 $31,350,860 $837,874 2.7% $31,361,605 $848,619 2.8%
Neal listed several increases in the proposed budget. They include:
• A two percent wage increase - $272,000
• Two additional police officers - $156,000
• 2010 step increases - $76,000
• Health Insurance - $175,000
• Pension/FICA - $156,000
• Severance - $111,000
• Duty Crew - $240,000
The proposed budget, including these changes, represents a 2.8 percent increase over 2010.
Neal also presented a graph depicting cumulative growth of assessment values in Eden
Prairie. He noted that in 2009 and 2010, for the first time, values of all three types of
properties (commercial, industrial and residential) are in decline at the same time. He said
staff is monitoring this trend and trying to get a handle on how much of a concern that is.
City Assessor Steve Sinell showed a spreadsheet of tax rate projections and their associated
tax impacts. Sinell said the residential trend line is down by between 3 and 4 percent so far
this year. Commercial and industrial properties are a more mixed bag. The trend line is not
as solid for those types of properties. Sinell showed tax impacts based on three property
value scenarios —the "likely"projection, the "optimistic"projection and the "pessimistic"
projection.
Finance Manager Sue Kotchevar also presented a spreadsheet that shows the detailed
impacts of various budget scenarios.
Council Member Aho and Duckstad asked for electronic copies of both Sinell's and
Kotchevar's spreadsheets.
Kotchevar said the next step in the budget process is for the City Council to approve a
preliminary levy at their September 7 City Council Meeting. A joint workshop with the
Budget Advisory Commission is scheduled for November 16.
Neal said if Council Members have additional budget scenarios they would like staff to run,
they should let him know. Aho said it appears that property values won't affect the levy that
much. He said the thing the Council has the most control over is the budget itself.
Nelson said she would like to explore whether or not setting a new cap on how much PTO
employees can accrue would help reduce the size of the severance fund.
Duckstad said he noticed the Budget Advisory Commission did not submit any
recommendations for budget cuts. He would like to ask them for their ideas on areas of
reduction.
Council Chamber
II. OPEN PODIUM
III. ADJOURNMENT