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<br />-iii- <br />Projections for the next 10 years indicate that property tax contributions, user fees, and investment <br />income will need to be reevaluated to support scheduled replacements. In 2007, the City established a <br />citizen committee, called the Financial Planning and Analysis Committee, to work on establishing fund <br />balance policies and where future tax rates should be set. A 10-year financial plan has been completed. In <br />2012, the City entered into a Joint Powers Agreement with Ramsey County to form a Joint Development <br />Authority (JDA) to acquire and develop a portion of the Army property, formerly known as TCAAP. The <br />county officially acquired this property April 15, 2013 and has cleaned it to residential standards. This <br />development is expected to add to the City’s tax base and includes commercial/industrial, residential, and <br />civic uses. The site is approximately 430 acres. <br /> <br />RELEVANT FINANCIAL POLICIES <br /> <br />Trends of the past decade, changes in state tax law, and recent legislation indicate that the City will have a <br />greater reliance on property taxes as a source of financing for city operations in the future and less <br />reliance on intergovernmental revenues (federal and state). Changes in state tax law over the past few <br />years have resulted in funding changes for both schools and local governments. The elimination of the <br />homestead and agricultural credit aids program, and large cuts in both local government aid and the <br />market value homestead credit programs resulted in revenue losses to the City. In addition, as the TCAAP <br />project progresses the City can expect to see an increase in building permit revenues in the next few <br />years. <br /> <br />MAJOR INITIATIVES <br /> <br />As previously mentioned, the development of the TCAAP property is a major project for the City. This <br />project also drives transportation issues as the site will increase traffic flows and require access. <br />Currently, the City has U.S. Highway 10, Interstate Highway 694, and Ramsey County 96 as major <br />corridors running through the City. All of these highways border the TCAAP property and present <br />transportation issues within the City; the City has a vested interest in improvements to these corridors and <br />is working cooperatively with the state, county, and federal transportation authorities and legislators. <br /> <br />ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS <br /> <br />The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) awarded a Certificate of Achievement for <br />Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for <br />the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. This is the eleventh year that the City has received this <br />prestigious award. In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, the City had to publis h an easily <br />readable and efficiently organized CAFR that satisfied both accounting principles generally accepted in <br />the United States of America and applicable legal requirements. <br /> <br />A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year only. We believe that our current CAFR <br />continues to meet the Certificate of Achievement Program’s requirements and we are submitting it to the <br />GFOA to determine its eligibility for another certificate. <br />