6.3. SR 06-15-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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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 safety inspections, planning and zoning, economic development, environmental services, parks and recreation, library, street maintenance, snow removal, infrastructure maintenance and repair, and others. The City also provides municipal water, sewer, storm water, 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 July for consideration. Following Council discussion and public input, the final tax levy and budget are approved in December. The City's Financial Management Policies allow 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 continued to grow as indicated by the building permits, with a construction value of $70,313,037, being issued in 2019. New constructions accounts for $59,164,918 and additions/remodels make up the $11,148,119 balance. In 2019, the city issued 118 new housing permits compared to 153 in 2018. The reduction in residential housing permits is due in large part to the availability of platted residential lots. Single family homes accounted for 117 of the new housing permits. The average value new home is about $251,000 compared to $245,000 in 2018. In addition, there was a housing permit for a multi -family apartment building. There has been continued interest in both affordable and market rate multi -family housing projects. Many of Elk River's largest employers reported stable or steady growth of employment levels between 2018 and 2019. This is largely due to a thriving manufacturing base and a successful, fast growing business community within the region. The commercial/industrial sector has experienced modest growth, expansion and reinvestment as well with several facility expansions in 2019. The outlook in this region looks promising with commercial industrial activity and the recent single-family residential development projects. (2)