08-22-2005 CC MIN - SPECIAL - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL (UPPER TOWN CONFERENCE ROOM) MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005 Members Present: Mayor Klinzing, Councilmembers Dietz, Farber, Gumphrey, and Motin Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Pat Klaers, Finance and Administrative Services Director Lori Johnson, Parks and Recreation Director Bill Maertz, Police Chief Jeff Beahen, Fire Chief Bruce West, Street Superintendent Phil Hals, and Assistant Street Superintendent Mark Thompson 1. Call Meeting To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Klinzing. 2. Budget Worksession The city administrator provided an overview of the draft 2006 budget. At this time the draft budget shows a gap between proposed revenues ($10,033,200) and requested expenditures ($11,189,250) in the amount of $1,156,050. It was noted that the proposed maximum tax levy for the city needs to be certified to the county by September 15, 2005. The city administrator stated that staff worked on the budget with the assumption that the Council wanted no change in the tax rate. He stated that the general fund budget includes additional tax revenues based on a 10% increase in the city Net Tax Capacity (NTC). Mr. Klaers further stated that the budget gap could decrease significantly if the city NTC increased more than 10%. He noted that if the NTC went up 14% instead of the 10% that is in the draft budget, then an additional $304,950 could be raised without any change in the city tax rate and these monies could be used to help balance the budget. Information on the city NTC increase is not yet available and that this information is provided by Sherburne County. The NTC information from the county is expected around Labor Day. The city administrator stated that a budget goal is to increase the capital outlay expenditures within the general fund; but that capital outlay is a major factor in the 2006 budget gap. Capital outlays in the amount of $900,850 is in the general fund budget. By reducing this amount to $250,000 the budget gap can be reduced by $650,850. This capital outlay amount of $650,850 will either have to be funded with equipment certificates or equipment reserves or else the expenditure will have to be cut from the budget and not funded in 2006. The city administrator suggested that in order to help balance the budget, the fire truck payment of $85,456 can be funded with reserves and the money identified in the preliminary levy sample for this payment can then be put into the general fund as tax revenues. Councilmember Farber asked for an explanation regarding the status of the Street Department trucks and indicated his belief was the city could only afford to do one truck