4.1. SR 08-09-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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that needs to be discussed is the possibility of including overtime for snow removal in the budget. As you axe all well aware, we often have more street repair and maintenance needs than funds available. One way the City deals with this is to assess street overlays to benefitting properties. Some cities also assess seal coating whereas we cover that through the tax levy. Generally, the tax levy does not provide sufficient funds to maintain the streets at an optimal level. Staff would like to take a more proactive approach in the future to lengthen the time before an overlay ox major reconstruction project is needed by increasing seal coating, crack filling, and general maintenance. Currently the City receives five percent of its Municipal State Aid (VISA) in maintenance funds. That $57,000 doesn't go far to cover the repair and maintenance costs of the 151 miles of streets in the City. The street superintendent has estimated the annual cost for routine repair and maintenance is closer to $270,000 just for seal coating. The general fund budgeted amount fox seal coating is currently just under $136,700. I am proposing that we increase the MSA maintenance allocation for 2011 to fund more ongoing maintenance in an effort to preserve the investment we have made in the infrastructure we already have. City Engineer Justin Femrite has been 1n contact with MnDot regarding changing the allocation of maintenance funding for 2011 and will be prepared to discuss this with the Council. As a point of reference, an increase of five percent in the maintenance allocation would pay for seal coating an additional three miles of roads. With no major MSA funded street project scheduled in the next few years (highways 169 and 10 would require more than just MSA funding to proceed) MSA funds axe available for maintenance without sacrificing a previously programmed street project. If the Council agrees with this change, the increased revenue would be offset by a direct expenditure increase; the budget gap would not be affected. The .engineering division budget was put together by staff prior to the city engineer being on staff. Since July 26 when Mr. Femrite started, we have met to discuss the needs and future plans for the engineering division with consideration of how those fit with the draft budget. Following our discussions, we are recommending changes that require some minor adjustments to the proposed budget. The budget attached to this memo is the original budget that does not include those recommended changes; we will go over the recommended adjustments at the work session. Police The main item of discussion in the police budget is a capital outlay request for timekeeping software. We discussed this capital request briefly during the human resource budget discussion last week, and, as you may recall, a request for this software was made by the human resource division several years ago. The budget request made by the police department is for $75,000. This covers most of the cost for implementing an electronic timekeeping system through out the City. It does not include the cost of the input devices at locations where computers are not available or the best method of employee input. Fire There are several fire department items for discussion at the budget work session. The first item is fire contract revenue. The City provides fire service for a portion of Big Lake Township and for Otsego. Otsego's contract requires that the payment for service be based on the "fair share" formula. This formula has worked well in the past; however, because the