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<br />assists in technical analysis, and prepares various maps. This information is very important for <br />day-to-day operations and long term planning/policymaking. <br /> <br />Proposed Changes to Service Level or Revenue <br /> <br />Much of the expenditure increases for 2017 are based on personal increases, such as <br />wages, PERA, and insurance and internal service charges such as fleet as IT. There are no <br />changes in permanent staffing levels proposed, however some overtime hours remain budgeted <br />for the Building Inspector and Permit Technician due to the Pulte Homes development in New <br />Brighton Exchange. A temporary/seasonal Building Inspector position remains within the <br />budget so as to help meet the inspections demand brought on by the Joint Powers Agreement <br />with the City of St. Anthony Village. The cost for this position is covered from the City of St. <br />Anthony building inspections revenues. However, there has not been a need to hire this position <br />in 2016. Staff anticipates similar workloads in 2017 and barring unexpected work load changes, <br />the position may not need to be filled in 2017 either. <br /> <br />With regard to fleet, DCAD staff has slowly been replacing building and code <br />compliance inspector vehicles over the last three years, as the vehicles were utilized far past their <br />ten year useful life. The third remaining inspector vehicle is budgeted for replacement in 2017. <br /> <br />2017 will represent the first year of a seven year contract extension for recycling services <br />with Republic Services. In 2017 recycling rates are being held flat from 2016 with costs per <br />month per household at $2.78. SCORE funds via Ramsey County are also expected to remain <br />flat. Staff has continued to budget for two clean up days in 2017, leaving the budgeted amount <br />unchanged from 2016. <br /> <br />Building permit activity is very difficult to predict from year to year. Staff has done an <br />analysis on the long-term trends for building permit activity going back over ten years. Over the <br />period from 2005 to 2015 the City averaged $545,251 in permit revenue (highest was $939,950 <br />in 2015; lowest was $315,513 in 2009). Recognizing permit activity is difficult to predict, staff <br />has keep the budget flat at $500,000 being this number is fairly consistent with a ten year <br />average. This average can be re-evaluated year to year with slight adjustments made based on <br />actual projects. In 2017, Pulte will continue to construct homes but it isn’t recommended that <br />any commercial permit activity in New Brighton Exchange is factored into revenues. <br /> <br />A significant budget impact in 2017 is an increase in the professional services <br />expenditure. This item has been increased from $13,000 to $20,000 to account for professional <br />service needs related to the mandated Comprehensive Plan Update process. This increase is not <br />sufficient to cover 100% of the cost of the update. Rather, staff is suggesting a three year phased <br />budget to minimize the impact of the costly project. As such, this item will increase again in <br />2018 as the update process will be ongoing through the end of 2018. It is expected that 100% of <br />the professional service expenditure in 2016, 2017, and 2018 is spent on the Comprehensive Plan <br />Update process. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />40