2017.09.12 CC Agenda C - Laserfiche WebLink

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2018 Budget Workshop Lotter stated staff had a presentation on the 2018 Budget based on the Council’s previous discussions. Davitt presented the Council with an updated 2018 Budget commenting on the plans for City streets. She stated LGA would be used for the City’s street program in 2018, but noted after 2019 LGA would not be placed in the streets fund. She explained there would be an election in 2018 and this expense was placed in the budget. She reviewed several cost savings measures staff has been pursuing along with new revenue streams. She proposed the two new FTE’s be hired in June versus January, which would save the City $50,000. It was noted this would reduce the levy to 9.42%. If the Council were to put an additional $100,000 of LGA into the General Fund, the levy would be reduced to 8.16%. She reviewed the proposed budgets and levies for neighboring communities and reported New Brighton was still on the low end. Staff discussed the next steps for the budget and tax levy and encouraged the Council to support the original budget. Lotter reviewed a recent wage study noting non-union staff was slightly below average when evaluated against 12 comparable communities. He provided further comment on the Council’s goals and how the proposed budget would meet those directives. Councilmember Burg discussed how the budget and tax levy were being shared over a larger pool of taxpayers than in the past given the recent development that has occurred in the City. She thanked staff for presenting the Council with options to reduce the levy. She believed these were great ideas that would assist the Cou ncil in accomplishing their goals. Councilmember Jacobsen stated he appreciated staff’s presentation as well. He believed the recommendations from staff made a lot of sense. He supported the Council putting half of the LGA into the General Fund in 2018. He anticipated staff was somewhat conservative on its income projections for the coming year with respect to the Eagle’s Nest, given the fact this will be a newly renovated attraction for the community. Councilmember Bauman thanked staff for presenting several cost saving options to the Council. She liked these kinds of ideas. She understood the Council’s goal was to be debt free while also keeping property taxes in check. She agreed that revenue streams could be more closely looked at for the coming year. She believed the budget was moving in the right direction but was frustrated to see that costs were still not being cut. Councilmember Strub believed the 2018 budget reflected Council directives which closely reflected community priorities. He stated the Council was not requesting hockey rinks or splash pads, or anything else extraordinary. He explained the Council was proposing a budget that would properly maintain the City. He questioned what areas of the budget should be cut. Councilmember Bauman did not believe it was necessary for the City Council to go line by line to make cuts within the budget. She explained this work could be done by staff based on direction received from the Council. Councilmember Strub believed the Council’s directive was to provide services based on the needs of our residents and the tax capacity available. He stated he didn’t understand what type of cuts Councilmember Bauman was proposing. Councilmember Bauman commented on LGA and how it was supposed to be utilized by the City to lower levies or be passed back to residents. Mayor Johnson stated she would have to agree to disagree with Councilmember Bauman on this topic.