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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-12-15 PACKET 03.A.Komi FOATOM-1 M�T August 11, 2010 The Cottage Grove City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, Washington County, Minnesota, held a Special Meeting on August 11, 201 at the Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516-80 Street South. Mayor Bailey called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. W ff! , �R Present: Mayor Myron Bailey, Council Member Mark Grossklaus, Council Member Jen Peterson, and Council Member Justin Olsen. Absent: Council Member Pat Rice. Also present were: Ryan Schroeder, City Administrator; Caron Stransky, City Clerk; Robin Roland, Finance Director, Howard Blin, Community Development Director; Jennifer Levitt, City Engineer, and Peter Koerner, Deputy Public Safety Director. Mayor Bailey presided over the special meeting. Finance Director Roland reviewed a power point presentation she prepared to guide the Council through the 2011-2012 Budget. 201112012 Council Budget Direction Finance Director Roland stated that Council directive in May, 201 was to keep the actual 201 property tax dollars paid on an "average property" the same as taxes payable in 201 She stated that this means that the decline in the market value of an average property will keep the actual dollars paid in City taxes about the same. In 201 the tax rate was 35.4 and even though the recommended budget reflects an increases the tax rate for 201 to 38.9, the due to the decline in market values, the amount paid will decrease from about $727 in 201 to $721 in 201 12141&W . Ucre MINYWITINAR. Cottage Grove City Council August 11, 2010 Special Meeting Finance Director Roland stated she has not received an estimate from Washington County on our tax capacity but it is her understanding that Washington County will get the numbers out to the City closer to September 1, 2010. Taxinq & Spending Finance Director Roland stated that the 2011 gross tax levy is $12,241,248 and it is estimated to result in the same taxes per an average property. The 2011 General Fund expenditures including transfers is proposed at $13,177,301, which is an increase of 3% more than the 2010 adopted budget. The 2011 tax levy is estimated to be below the State Levy limitation and we are below the State Levy Limit by about $843,000. The proposed budget addresses the loss of market value homestead credit in 2011 and 2012, which means we are levying for money that we know that the State will retain. She stated that staff will use the 2009 transfer that the Council adopted in the 2009 -2010 Budget, and use $425,000 of that in 2011 to balance the budget and then the balance for 2012. Finance Director Roland stated the 2012 recommended budget is not balanced in the General Fund, it is off by about $600,000, and the reason that it is at this point, is that there are some outstanding issues. She stated that we do not know what the State is going to do about market value homestead credit (MVHC); although we are pretty sure that it is not going to come back. We also have some numbers that are soft in the 2011 and 2012 budget that includes contract negotiations, percentages as far as cost -of- living (COLA) increases go, and we estimate a 2% COLA in 2011 and 2012. If those numbers were to change because of settled contracts, it could very easily cost us anywhere from $70,000 to $150,000 between the two (2) years. Once those contracts are settled and we have a more solid numbers, that $600,000 gap changes. Finance Director Roland stated there things that we will want to discuss during the budget process and they Council may make some determinations of what you want to see that would reduce expenditures or increasing revenue sources. Finance Director Roland stated that staff is not proposing any changes to utility fees or franchise fees for 2011 or 2012 at this time. Director Historical Pattems Finance Roland reviewed historical patterns and stated that over period, department r- • s as a percentage of the total operating spending in the General Fund reflects a shift away from General Government activities and towards public services. Historical $pendinq — Last 10 Years (in $1,000's) Finance Director Roland stated that a snapshot of the historical spending for the last 10 years shows that from 2005 to the 2010 budget, we have not strayed very far from a total General Fund expenditure of about $12,500,000. It has been as high as $12,900,000, and it has been l ower d own t o ac $ 00 0 bu f or o • l as t fi ve y ears h as o Cottage Grove City Council August 11, 2010 Special Meeting 13 changed very much. This is due to cuts to the budget, early retirements and furloughs, and changes in the way we do business. Comparison of Levy Amounts (in $1,000's) Finance Director Roland stated that the levy is proposed to increase by 0.71 % in 2011 and decrease by 0.19% for 2012. Levy % Increase History Finance Director Roland stated that the levy has been decreasing over the years, except in 2002 when we had to increase the levy in order to recapture the loss of Homestead & Agricultural Credit Aid (HACA). Levy Limits in Effect for 2011 Finance Director Roland stated that we are $843,466 underneath our levy limit. If we were to levy to our limit, the tax rate would be significantly increased as would the actual taxes to the average household. Fund Balance Policy Finance Director Roland stated that the fund balance policy shows the amounts that have been transferred since 2002 when the Fund Balance policy went into effect and this is where we will continue to go assuming 2010 is consistent with prior years. The Fund's balance is $4,416,981. Tax Extension Rates Finance Director Roland then presented a historical viewpoint of the tax rate for the last 10 years. She stated that she anticipates that we will not be the only City that increases our tax rate by virtue of not increasing our levy but seeing a decline in property values. She stated that once we get to the first of September, we will have a better idea from other cities what their tax rates will be going up or what will be happening to their tax rates. We want to stay at the mean rate so we are going to watch very carefully where that mean rate falls and we may need to make some modifications to the 2011 budget if Council so desires to keep us closer to that actual rate. 2010 Pi-ope,-ty Tax Extension Rate Comparison Finance Director Roland stated that for 2010, Cottage Grove's tax rate was 35.4 and the mear rate was 35.32, which is as about as close as we ever been. Trends in Tax Base Growth Finance Director Roland stated that our tax base in 2010 was at the same level as what it w in 2007. 2011 would see a decline even further, and this is in millions of taxable capacity. Th I bid change in 2002 was the change in the valuation system which was then coupled with the loss of HACA. 11 Cottage Grove City Council August 11, 2010 Special Meeting Council Member Olsen stated that with respect to the change in taxable tax capacity in comparison to the same communities that we compared our property tax extension rate to, where do we fall in terms of the mean. Roland responded that at this point she has not gone outside of Washington County but that is something that she will look at next week. City Administrator Schroeder stated that in the County, our reduction in tax capacity is very similar to the County-wide reduction. Debt Levies Finance Director Roland stated that the debt levy in 2011 will decline by about 3.6% because she will be calling the 2002B and 2003B Pavement Management Bonds in order to free up levy dollars for the future Public Safety/City Hall Facility bonds which is factored into the debt levy. She stated that the preliminary estimate that she is using for the future debt on the Public Safety/City Hall facility is between $11.4 million or $11.6 million level. The annual average payment on at amount would be about $900,000 (principle and interest). She stated that as little as a $1 million change in the amount we bond could have a significant impact on what we have to levy every year. At the $11.6 million level, $900,000 a year is a big debt levy, but if it were to bond $10 million instead, the required levy would drop to about $750,000 per year. Finance Director Roland stated the debt levy in 2011 is 9.9% of the total level and is consistent with the Debt policy adopted by Council earlier this year. Debt Service Levies Finance Director Roland presented a graph which shows the debt going out to 2020 which includes the Public Safety/City Hall proposed debt, the Ice Arena debt, the Future and the existing Pavement Management debt. Council Member Olsen stated that on the Ice Arena debt, have we given any thought on potentially buying down that debt and re-issuing it at a lower interest rate? City Administrator Schroeder stated he would rather pay down other debt before paying down the Ice Arena debt. Finance Director Roland stated that if the debt is out there and it is a known expense, and it would easier for us to be able to recapture those fees from the other sources such as the Hockey Association or the School District because one would assume that once that debt were reduced, they would expect a reduction in fees as well. Cottage Grove City Council August 11, 2010 Special Meeting 15 General Fund — Revenues by Type Finance Director Roland presented a summary of the proposed General Fund revenues by type noting that we budgeted pretty flat for 2010-2011 and the only difference is the carry forward from 2009 to actually achieve our 3% increase. In 2012, the balance of that carry forward would be applied toward the General Fund and we will need to come up with approximately $600,000 by either reducing expenditures or through some type of increase in revenues. General Fund — Maior Department Categories Finance Director Roland stated that in the major department categories - General Government, Community Development, Public Works and Public Safety shows the increases currently built into the proposed budget. For 2011, the increase before transfers is 4%; however, we were able to reduce the amount to transfer out to the equipment replacement fund due to some shifting of equipment which results in a 3% increase in expenditures. For 2012, the increase before transfers is only at 1.9% which is almost entirely for the cost of living increases. If that changes, it would reduce the level of expenditures. Council Member Grossklaus asked why we are increasing Council Contingency by $13,100. Finance Director Roland stated she is working off of that number from the 2011 proposed budget that came with the 2010 budget. That was the number that was in there for 2011 at that time. Certainly you do not need to increase that contingency but that gives you a little play if the COLAs do not come in the way we anticipate or if we have a sudden wind storm that takes out a lot of trees and we decide to help people out with, or the price of salt or sand goes up extraordinarily and we have not budgeted for it completely. Finance Director Roland stated it is now 7:00 p.m., and this would be a good time to discontinue discussion until after the regular meeting at which time we can begin discussion on the Public Works budgets. g •. -• • Caron M. Stransky City Clerk