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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.08.15 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR September 8, 2015 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Larson at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OFALLEGLANCE Mayor Larson led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Larson, Bartholomay, Bonar,Donnelly,Pitcher Members Absent: None Also Present: Andrea Poehler, City Attorney; David McKnight, City Administrator;Robin Hanson,Finance Director;Brian Lindquist, Police Chief;Adam Kienberger, Community Development Director;Randy Distad,Parks and Recreation Director;Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer;Brenda Wendlandt,Human Resources Director;Jim Schmitz,Assistant Fire Chief; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Audience: Diane Lind,Kurt Weidner, Greg Delo,Jerry Rich 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Bartholomay pulled item 7i)Appointment Recommendation Parks and Recreation for separate vote. Councilmember Bonar pulled item 7d)Disposal of Surplus Property for discussion. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Donnelly to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) 911 Hero Award—Jacob Delo Diane Lind, Dakota Communications Center Executive Director and Police Chief Brian Lindquist presented Jacob Delo with the 911 Hero Award for calling 911 and saving his father's life. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Donnelly to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (8/17/15 Regular)(8/24/15 Work Session)- Administration b) Amended ORDINANCE 015-701 Therapeutic Massage Licenses- Administration c) Approved City Administrator Annual Performance Review Summary and Re- execution of Employment Agreement-Attorney Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 2 d) Authorized Disposal of Surplus Property-Fire e) Adopted RESOLUTION R38-15 Accepting EMS Scholarship Award-Fire f) Adopted RESOLUTION R39-15 Accepting Donations—Parks and Recreation g) Adopted RESOLUTION R40-15 Accepting Park Bench Donation—Parks and Recreation h) Acknowledged Resignation Liquor Operations—Human Resources i) Tabled Appointment Recommendation Parks and Recreation—Human Resources j) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department—Human Resources k) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department—Human Resources 1) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department—Human Resources m) Approved Seasonal Hiring—Human Resources n) Approved Bills APIF,MOTION CARRIED. d) Disposal of Surplus Property-Fire This item was to declare Rescue 1 as surplus equipment and authorize the city administrator to sell the vehicle through a competitive bid process. Assistant Fire Chief Jim Schmitz explained this heavy rescue vehicle is used to respond to ambulance calls or light rescue calls. The fire department does not operate as a heavy rescue department. With the re-organization the fire department has been looking for multi-purpose vehicles. Rescue 1 is very large and not easy to maneuver. It would be replaced with a smaller brush truck type vehicle for tighter places and off road. i) Appointment Recommendation Parks and Recreation—Human Resources Councilmember Bartholomay asked that this item be tabled for 90 days to go through the budget process further and look at other possible ways to address this without having to hire. Councilmember Bonar noted with the preliminary levy it is a good time to pause on this position and make sure whatever decision is made is done so when the budget process is finished. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Bonar to table this item for 90 days to complete the budget process. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS,REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) 2016 Preliminary Budget and Tax Levy-Finance The 2016 budget has been reviewed by Council and staff in several work sessions. Local government aid(LGA)and fiscal disparities numbers have been finalized which resulted in increased revenues of$35,000. A corresponding increase to the administrative reserve was added so the numbers are the same as the last budget work session. Council was asked to set the preliminary tax levy which is due to the county by September 30,2015. Once the preliminary levy is established, Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 3 Council can adopt the same or a lower amount as the fmal tax levy in December, but the levy cannot be increased. During the October work session, staff will review the proposed fee schedule for 2016. In November Council will have another opportunity to review all the budgets. Council is also being asked to set the truth in taxation hearing for December 7, 2015, after which the final 2016 budget will be adopted. The final tax levy is due to the county by December 16,2015. The 2016 general fund budget was developed with the following guidelines: - Continue to provide core services for police, fire,streets,parks and recreation and administration. - Continue to fund Council's long term financial planning strategies. - Support the 2015 strategic plan. Fiscal disparities will decrease by$133,000 in 2016. Due to fewer lots,building permit revenue has been reduced by$100,000. Local government aid is increased to$285,000. A 3%increase from the transfers in to cover personnel related costs and administrative services has been incorporated. General fund revenues come from several sources with 74%coming from property taxes. Transfers in from the enterprise funds comprise 10%, intergovernmental receipts, charges for services, licenses and permits,fines and forfeitures, investment income and miscellaneous revenues make up the remaining 16%. The combined general fund revenues for 2016 are budgeted at $11,806,427. The general fund expenditures include estimates for union contracts,wage study implementation plan,retirement contributions, estimates for health insurance benefits, anticipated workers' compensation premium increases and not filling 1.5 full time positions vacated in 2015. The budget also provides increased funding for deferred and ongoing equipment needs in the fire department and long term funding for the fire CIP, fire relief association, seal coating,trail maintenance and building maintenance. The 2016 general fund expenditures total$11,806,427. The police department represents 35%of the overall total,parks and recreation, municipal services and the fire department each represent 10%of the total,with engineering, community development,administration,transfers out to other funds, finance, risk management and human resources comprising the remaining expenditures. Transfers out include$40,000 to the EDA, $295,000 to the fire capital equipment projects fund, $20,000 to the arena capital projects fund, $157,000 to the general equipment fund which will provide for two replacement squad cars and replacement of other equipment as recommended by the municipal services director. Money for seal coating and trail maintenance are included and funds for building maintenance. Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 4 LGA totals$284,000 and is being allocated for equipment needs,with$205,000 being transferred to the fire capital project fund and$71,000 being used for general capital equipment needs. For the second year in a row,the city's fund balance has stayed above zero throughout the year. For the first time in June 2015,the fund balance met one of the two minimum fund balance calculations recommended by the state auditor. The next goal is to provide a buffer in the fund balance for unforeseen circumstances. There are two components to the debt levy. One helps pay for general fund expenditures. The other helps pay for the scheduled principle and interest payments for the city's debt as well as ongoing trustee, assessment, arbitrage and post-issuance compliance costs, continued efforts to strengthen the city's debt cash flow to achieve full compliance with the 105%funding requirement and to provide partial funding for the city's portion of the 195th Street project. The 2016 debt levy totals$2,970,848. The net tax levy for 2016 is$9,613,254 and represents a 4.9%increase over the 2015 levy. The reduction in fiscal disparities and building permit revenue totals $233,000. Investments in the fire department total$209,000. Human resource costs are increasing by$21,100. There are 1.5 full time equivalents less in the 2016 budget than the 2015 budget. All other combined department increases total $74,000. The net debt levy is being reduced in 2016,the debt levy is increasing for the 195th Street project,but in 2016 the city is utilizing$200,000 of municipal state aid funds for debt service on two municipal state aid road projects that were previously funded with bonds. In 2016 the estimated market value for the average residential home is expected to be$213,155 which is a 6.9% increase from 2015. After applying the market value exclusion you have a taxable value of$195,099 for 2016, and an estimated city tax of$1,155.19. The average residential home would see a yearly property tax increase of$48.18 for 2016. Mayor Larson noted this budget follows our strategic plan. Councilmember Pitcher stated he has been told by residents not to raise taxes and that they are too high already. In the community survey,just 1%of the survey respondents said taxes are somewhat low. The survey classified Farmington as tax hostile. He believed the people have spoken and they do not want taxes increased,therefore he cannot support the property tax increase. Councilmember Pitcher suggested looking for innovative ways to find efficiencies in government. He suggested outsourcing payroll,privatize garbage collection, in the workshops the elimination of one additional employee was taken out so we could look at that again, look for excessive overtime,we should utilize the empty space in city hall Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 5 and rent it out. Mayor Larson reminded him the bonds would need to be changed in order to rent city hall and then we would be competing with other vacant buildings. Councilmember Pitcher noted we can rent to other government agencies. Councilmember Bartholomay noted humans are conditioned to say taxes are too high. We have to make some tough decisions which residents expect us to do. He asked if most residential taxes would go up even with a 0%increase due to valuation. Finance Director Hanson stated it depends on where you fall in the market value exclusion scale;they are all over the board. Councilmember Bartholomay stated he does not like to increase taxes, but we have laid out a very good strategic plan that has put the city in the right direction for fmancial stability. If we continue to cut we are going backwards. We need to continue stay the course. Next year will not be any easier. Councilmember Bonar stated people who find their tax burden to be appropriate have found a way to avoid taxation all together. When it comes to taxes, it is a matter of value. With 8,000 homes we would have 8,000 different opinions as to how the tax dollars are spent. He stated if we were to line item all expenses, debt would either be the second or largest expense we have,with law enforcement being the largest or second largest. Finance Director Hanson noted police is 4.1% and the debt levy is approximately 3%. Councilmember Bonar noted this Council has not issued much debt, but inherited much because the city grew so fast in a short period of time. Councilmember Donnelly stated debt is a big problem,but we cannot undo it. Council gave staff direction and they followed through. We did not fill 1.5 positions and including those,the city has cut 16 positions since 2006. We are not raising taxes because we are hiring people. We have the 195th Street project, local government aid is cut and housing projects are down. The 195th Street project had to be done and the county participated. People will always say taxes are high. A few years ago,we had two years with a 0%tax increase. We could not put money aside by doing that. He will support the budget, it is a minimal increase for what we have to pay and provide what people need. It would be easy to say no increase,but that is not good for our future. Mayor Larson stated the fiscal disparities have been reduced,we pay a portion of the 195th Street project and building permits are down. This is not under our control. We don't want to go back to our previous financial position. We have made hard decisions to be in a healthier financial position. We are following our financial plan and putting money aside for building maintenance and trails. He did not like raising taxes,but we need to keep the city moving in a positive direction. He does not want to go backwards. Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 6 Councilmember Pitcher agreed this is not easy. He felt we have not looked hard enough for efficiencies and improvements. He wants to make sure we are moving forward and boosting our economy and looking for more efficiencies. Councilmember Bonar stated during the work sessions one of the greatest challenges is he does feel there is room for staff adjustment. He has pushed for a lower increase because this should be integrated into our budget. Councilmember Bartholomay agreed we need to continue to look for efficiencies, but wanted to give staff credit. They have worked really hard to get us to where we are. Everyone contributed to making things as efficient as possible. A lot of the departments are not spending all of their money. By not spending all the money we were able to stay above zero in June. Each department is daily thinking about ways to save money. Mayor Larson did not want anyone to get the impression that Council and staff do not look for efficiencies. That has been going on for many years. We see it every year. Councilmember Donnelly stated the solid waste department is a self-contained enterprise unit. The tax money does not pay to pick up the garbage. Getting rid of municipal solid waste will not decrease taxes. Mayor Larson noted other cities tell him to not ever get rid of city garbage. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Bonar to adopt RESOLUTION R41-15 approving the budget as presented with a 4.9%tax levy increase with adding the elimination of a to-be-determined position by the city administrator by the December 7,2015, final budget vote. Also set the public input meeting prior to the adoption of the fmal 2016 budget and tax levy for December 7,2015. Voting for: Larson, Bartholomay, Bonar, Donnelly. Voting against: Pitcher. MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Resolution Supporting Temporary Data Classification-Police The legislature was asked to provide privacy for body camera data. This was not accomplished before the end of the session. There are several agencies seeking a temporary stay of classification on body camera data. The police department would like to become part of this group until it gets through legislation. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Pitcher to adopt RESOLUTION R42-15 in support of an application for temporary classification of body worn camera data. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. b) Adopt Resolution Authorizing the Submittal of a Local Government Unit Mighty Ducks Grant Application—Parks and Recreation Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 7 Staff requested permission to apply for a Mighty Ducks Grant to purchase a new ice resurfacer. The requirement is a 1:1 dollar match from non-state sources. In the 2017 budget the replacement of the ice resurfacer is included. The grant would allow for the purchase of an electric ice resurfacer which emits zero carbon monoxide. It would improve the air quality at the arena. All equipment would then be electric. The application deadline is October 1,2015. After that we have 16 months to purchase a resurfacer which fits with the 2017 budget. The 1:1 match funding would come from funds set aside from transfers or from a small profit and a commitment from Farmington Youth Hockey to contribute$5,000 annually towards capital improvements at the arena. In 2017 funding would amount to$17,563 from Farmington Youth Hockey and$26,437 from the arena capital improvement fund. This totals$80,000 which would allow us to request a $50,000 grant. MOTION by Donnelly, second by Bonar to adopt RESOLUTION R43-15 authorizing the submittal of a Mighty Ducks Grant application for the purchase of a new electric ice resurfacer for the arena. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Councilmember Donnelly: Flagstaff Avenue is open. Councilmember Bartholomay: September 12 is household hazardous waste drop- off day. He appreciated the discussion regarding the budget and all opinions. Councilmember Pitcher: He also appreciated the budget discussion. He reminded everyone about the farmers' market on Thursday. Finance Director Hanson: A letter will be mailed next week to those with delinquent utility accounts reminding owners they have until October 1,2015,to pay before the amounts are certified to property taxes. City Engineer Schorzman: Pilot Knob Road is now closed from south of 195th Street to 190th Street, as well as 195th Street is still closed between Akin Road and Everest Path. The Akin Road roundabout is open. The first two stages were completed prior to the start of school. The project should be done around the first of November. He was very pleased with the caution being taken by drivers at Flagstaff Avenue and Highway 50. Human Resources Director Wendlandt: The city is working on a website redesign. She encouraged residents to take the survey on the website to provide public input. Mayor Larson: He appreciated the discussion on the budget. He asked everyone to shop local. Businesses are asked for numerous donations so it would be good to repay them. Council Minutes(Regular) September 8,2015 Page 8 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Donnelly, second by Pitcher to adjourn at 8:19 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant