2016.09.27 CC Combined - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 13, 2016 Page 4 of 7 second Tuesday of the month). The date, time and place for the scheduled public hearings will be included on the County’s parcel specific notices. He reported the recommended 2017 General Fund Budget is $15,106,600 which represents an increase of 6.31% over the 2016 Amended Budget. The recommended budget includes:  No use of reserves for operations  Continued reallocation of LGA for Street Reconstruction and Stormwater purposes  New personnel requests in Park Maintenance, IT, and License Bureau  New personnel reclassification requests in Administration, Recreation, and NBCC  Funding to perform a 2017 Community Survey  Funding to update a City-wide Comprehensive Plan  Funding for capital asset replacements City Manager Lotter discussed the efforts the City has made to run more efficiently. He reviewed how staff has worked to reduce expenses over the past eight years through the economic downturn. The 2017 proposed levy was compared to neighboring communities. He then commented on the how the proposed levy would impact the median valued homeowner. He reported the 2017 Budget components reflect the City Council adopted priorities, those being: financial sustainability, effective governance, community engagement, economic development, operational excellence and workforce engagement and development. He discussed the items included and not included within the budget and tax levy in further detail. The resources available to assist residents with property tax relief were listed. Staff recommended approval of the preliminary tax levy and meeting dates. Councilmember Strub was pleased to see the progress the City was making through new parks, new roads, new homes, new jobs and new bridges in the community. He indicated he spoke with his neighbors regarding the City’s role and he believed New Brighton was providing high quality public services in a cost efficient manner. He supported the proposed tax levy and believed it provided a great return on investment. Councilmember Bauman appreciated Councilmember Strub’s comments, however, it was her opinion the COLA adjustments was excessive along with the salaries being paid to staff when reflected against the earnings of the average New Brighton resident. She reported that over 12% of the City’s population were living in poverty, which was higher than the State average. She understood the City had an obligation to provide core services but did not believe this would be sustainable with budgets that had a 6+% increase year after year. She noted the City received $582,000 in LGA this year. She recommended the City not bank on these funds continuing. She believed the budget was excessive and that the City needed to be more fiscally responsible. For this reason, she stated she would not be supporting the proposed tax levy. Councilmember Strub stated Councilmember Bauman discussed the idea of suburban poverty at a previous worksession meeting. He appreciated this discussion and welcomed this topic being discussed further. He provided clarification on the data Councilmember Bauman discussed noting over 5% of the people living in poverty within the City were children which were not tax paying individuals. He looked forward to the Council discussing how to address the remaining 7% of those living in poverty within New Brighton. Mayor Johnson stated she had researched this topic as well. She found that 10.2% of New Brighton residents were living at the poverty level. She discussed the City’s unemployment rate and believed local businesses were not cutting staff or wages at this time as the economy was on an upturn. She understood that a large portion of those living in poverty were renters and suggested the Council look into providing more affordable housing. Councilmember Burg commented on those that qualify for a real estate tax refund. She noted she worked daily in her career to find housing for homeless and low income individuals. She described how the City was setting aside LGA funds in order to reduce the need for future debt. Mayor Johnson addressed the proposed COLA increases and noted Lino Lakes city employees would be receiving 2.5% increases.