Laserfiche WebLink
Memo - City Council <br /> 2013 Proposed Preliminary Budget and Tax Levy <br /> 4 <br /> TAKING A LOOK AT ARDEN HILLS LEVY HISTORY <br /> The State of Minnesota has granted local municipalities the authority to levy taxes to fund <br /> operations and debt payments. The City's entire tax levy goes for General Fund expenditures. <br /> For the City of Arden Hills, the property tax levy accounts for approximately 78% of the General <br /> Fund revenues. Historically, the City does not use reserves to balance the City's budget, <br /> however, due to the current economic environment $41,201 was used to balance the budget for <br /> 2010 and $20,000 was used in 2011. No reserves were used in 2012. The following table <br /> provides a historical view of the City's property tax levies and tax rates: <br /> Year Tax Lew Change Tax Rate Change <br /> 2002 $2,201,002 - 25.092% - <br /> 2003 $2,265,712 2.94% 23.930% -4.63% <br /> 2004 $2,333,337 2.98% 23.367% -2.35% <br /> 2005 $2,440,453 4.59% 21.299% -8.85% <br /> 2006 $2,537,520 3.98% 20.191% -5.20% <br /> 2007 $2,688,944 5.97% 20.206% 0.07% <br /> 2008 $2,797,348 4.03% 19.585% -3.07% <br /> 2009 $2,948,646 5.41% 20.520% 4.77% <br /> 2010 $3,016,465 2.30% 22.647% 10.37% <br /> 2011 $3,040,964 0.81% 24.180% 6.77% <br /> 2012 $3,096,994 1.84% 25.544% 5.64% <br /> 2009 saw the start of the LJFD duty crew implementation, while 2010 and 2011 saw the <br /> unallotment of the MVHC to cities. We have been very conservative in our budgeting and have <br /> reduced department budgets or used reserves to deal with the increased costs of our contracted <br /> services while still maintaining services the last few years. <br /> OPERATING BUDGET <br /> Salary and Benefits <br /> The 2013 preliminary budget was prepared assuming a 2% wage adjustment for non-union staff <br /> and a 0% wage adjustment for union staff as it is unknown what our costs will be as our union <br /> contract is up on December 31, 2012 (Monies have been set aside in contingency for this <br /> purpose). As previously discussed with the City Council, in surveying surrounding communities <br /> most have included a 1.5% - 3.0% COLA increase in their preliminary estimates. Each 1% of <br /> wage increase has an $8,557 impact on the General Fund. <br /> The budget also assumes a $32 per month increase in the City's contribution to health and dental <br /> insurance. The increase for 2013 is 5% for medical; however 6% is included in the budget as we <br /> did not receive this data until after the preliminary budget was prepared. In 2008, the City added <br />