2.2. ERMUSR 10-8-2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4.1 Policy Manual Initiative Mr. Adams presented the tentative schedule for the first phase of the policy manual initiative. Per the proposed initiative schedule, the items for consideration in September are the Rates, Fees, and Programs section, and the Service Agreements & Requirements section. The Rates, Fees, and Programs section includes 19 items. Mr. Adams explained that these items are updated annually during the budget process and then approved by the Commission in December as part of the annual business plan, therefore their inclusion in the policy manual is redundant. The Service Agreements & Requirements section consists of 16 documents that are used for various services provided to customers. These documents reflect requirements that are either covered in the formal rate sheets approved by the commission annually, or covered in the service policies, electric department rules, or water department rules. Because of the nature of these two sections, staff recommended the removal of both sections from the policy book. Moved by Commissioner Bell and seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to approve the removal of the Rates, Fees, and Programs section from the ERMU Policy Manual. Motion carried 5-0. Moved by Commissioner Nadeau and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to approve the removal of the Service Agreements & Requirements section from the ERMU Policy Manual. Motion carried 5-0. 4.2 Payment in Lieu of Taxes and Other Donations to the City of Elk River Recently the subject of increasing the overall Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) donation level to the city has been discussed by the City Council, and subsequently some inaccurate information has also been printed in the Star News. Mr. Adams stated that this topic has been included on the agenda so that the Commission has the opportunity to review the current PILOT policy, the philosophy behind the policy, how the policy fits in with ERMU's mission/vision/values, and the greater good to the community. Mr. Adams presented his report as outlined in his memo. He shared that the philosophy behind the transfer is to contribute an amount to the city government consistent with industry standards. He spoke to the data used for benchmarking those standards, and the variety of methodologies used for calculating the amount. Mr. Adams shared that there is an option to increase the transfer amount to the city while being consistent with the benchmarking data, and maintaining consistency with the national benchmarking and ERMU's mission/vision/values. The solution is to increase the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes September 10, 2019 Page 3 35