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AGENDA ITEM – 1C <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br /> <br />DATE: October 13, 2014 <br /> <br />TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br /> <br />FROM: Patrick Klaers, City Administrator <br /> Sue Iverson, Director of Finance and Administrative Services <br /> <br />SUBJECT: 2015 Budget and Tax Levy <br /> <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />In preparation for adoption of the final tax levy in December, this memo addresses the following <br />information: recap of residential property values (the Council has had this information in <br />previous memos from staff), discussion on preliminary levy and budget, and the City’s levy <br />history and excess fund balance over the fund balance policy for comparison purposes. <br /> <br />Staff prepared detailed budget books for the Council for the September 22, 2014 worksession. In <br />response to Council requests for additional information at this worksession the following is being <br />provided: <br /> <br />1. Councilmember McClung’s request for the dollar amount associated with the amount in <br />the fund balance policy over 50%. <br />2. Exact numbers on the insurance and benefit amounts and plans as currently offered <br />according to the City’s personnel policy (2014 Summaries) <br />3. Finance and Administrative Services Duties, responsibilities and workload. <br />4. Breakdown of the amount of increase in the 2015 proposed budget as a result of: <br />a. COLA <br />b. Step increases <br />c. Benefits <br /> <br />RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES <br /> <br />According to information provided by Ramsey County in May of this year, the median home <br />value in Arden Hills will increase from $264,700 for 2014 taxes, to $295,100 for 2015 taxes <br />which is an 11.5% increase in value compared to the county average increase of 9.4%. <br />According to Ramsey County, assessed value had declined for five consecutive assessments, the