5.2. SR 06-06-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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22,974. Population at full build out is estimated to be 35,000. Urban services are available to about one- third of the land area in the City. The City of Elk River operates under a statutory form of government consisting of a four member City Council and a Mayor who is also a voting member. Council members are elected by ward to a four-year term with two Council seats up for election each even year. The Mayor is also elected to a four-year term. The City Council is responsible for adopting the City's budget and tax levy, passing resolutions and ordinances, all hiring and firing decisions, policy making, development and growth planning, and overall direction of the City. In addition to providing general government services, the City of Elk River provides a full range of other services including police and fire protection, building and other safety inspections, planning and zoning, economic development, environmental services, parks and recreation, library, street, snow removal, infrastructure maintenance and repair, and others. The City also provides municipal water, sewer, garbage, and electric services and operates two off-sale liquor stores. The annual budget serves as the foundation for the City of Elk River's financial planning and control. Budget requests are submitted by all departments to the Finance Department each May. The Finance Department compiles these requests into a proposed budget. The Finance Department and City Administrator review the information and present a draft budget to the Council in August for consideration. Following Council discussion and public input, the final tax levy and budget are approved in December. The City's Financial Management Plan allows department heads to make administrative budget amendments (excluding personal service and capital outlay) throughout the year as long as the total department budget does not change and the amendment is approved by the City Administrator and Finance Director. The Council approves additional budget amendments in December of each year. Budget to actual comparisons are provided in this report for each individual governmental fund for which an appropriated annual budget has been adopted. For the general fund this comparison is presented on page 27 as part of the basic financial statements for the governmental funds. For other governmental funds with appropriated annual budgets this comparison is presented in the governmental fund subsection of this report. Local economy The local economy has showed some evidence of growth by the increase in building permits with a construction value of $18,166,228 being issued in 2010. This is an 80 percent increase from 2009. New commercial, industrial, and institutional building accounted for $5,120,272 of new value, and an additional $9,947,037 in additions and remodeling and $3,098,919 in residential construction make up the balance. The number of new housing units declined from 20 in 2009 to 15 in 2010. The average value of new homes increased to $206,594. Single family homes accounted for 15 of the new housing units compared to 16 built in 2009. Many of Elk River's largest employers reported stable or growing employment levels between 2010 and 2011. This is largely due to the diversified economic base. Elk River experienced very few incidental layoffs among its larger employers. The companies experiencing the most employment growth were in the industrial sector. Despite the downturn in the national economy, the City saw a number of private investments including, Depot Apartments with 56 units near Northstar Depot Station, Dove Tree Apartments $1-million rehabilitation of 64 units, United Healthcare data center 50,000-sf expansion, and the addition of two restaurants Pompeii Pizzeria and Mucho Loco Authentic Mexican. 2 ii I C L