3.0. SR 08-30-1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . 2000 Budget August 26, 1999 Pag-e 4 require a public hearing, and most likely all people receiving a gas bill would be advised of this public hearing in their billing statement. The rational for charging a franchise fee, the existing Cable TV franchise fee, the utility payment to the city being similar to an electric franchise fee, and other franchise fees comments have been reviewed in previous memos. A franchise fee at the 3 percent level could generate approximately $100,000 in funds for municipal activities or capital expenditures. In order to balance the 2000 budget, the City Council may have to consider raising additional tax revenues. If the preliminary information from the County Assessor is correct, even the tax level now included in the 2000 budget will result in a tax rate increase. Over the past few years, the Legislature has compressed the tax classes which has negatively impacted net tax capacities, and this has lead to higher tax rates. While the city and county tax rates across Minnesota have gone up, the tax bills paid by the property owners have not changed significantly if their value did not change. This is because the Legislature also created and increased education credits for property owners. If you look back to last year, the city tax rate went up about 10 percent, the county tax rate went up about 10 percent, and the school district tax rate went up about 5 percent, but the total taxes you paid as a homeowner or business owner (if your value did not increase) was about the same as the previous year, and this was due to the increased education credits being provided by the state. In 2000 the tax classes are again compressed, and even though the change is less than last year, this compression is why the County Assessor is concerned about the status of our tax capacity. Also, in 2000 the state is again providing additional education credits for property owners. I am not sure if the results will be the same as last year, but it appears that some of a tax increase will be offset by the increase in education credits. To at least start making a dent into the budget gap, I think that there are a few minor changes that the council should consider. These minor changes include: . Reduce the new Government Building's Maintenance Worker position to halftime status (save approximately $12,000) . Reduce the new Street Maintenance I position to approximately 6 lh months... the other 5 lh months is in the ice arena budget (save approximately $12,000) . The $18,000 CSO grant is for 12 months, and if this position is filled it appears that more than the $8,000 will actually be used in 2000. This is because if authorized, the position wouldn't be filled until at least October. The 12 month expenses for the position is $28,000. . Now that the community recreation budget has been approved, it should be noted that the administration fees are overstated by $6,500 in the city general fund recreation budget.