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number of positions included in the budget is decreasing by one due to the elimination of the <br />Recreation Coordinator. Also, there are changes to some of the wage allocations and a couple of <br />new position titles with different grades are included in Public Works and Community <br />Development. <br /> <br />Public Safety <br />2022 budget information was received from Ramsey County and Lake Johanna Fire Department <br />for public safety. <br /> <br />POLICE <br />The police contract is expected to rise by 2.1%, or $29,240 for 2022. Information provided by <br />Ramsey County on this increase is as follows: <br /> <br />The major cost drivers include: <br />• Personnel costs, including a 2.5% cost of living adjustment and better alignment with actuals. <br />• An addition of a Commander position for communications, records administration, and <br />national incident‐based reporting system (NIBRS) compliance. <br />• Automotive repair increases due to County garage rates, which are increasing from $90 per <br />hour to $92 per hour. <br /> <br />The budget also provides funding for: <br />• Body-worn and in-car cameras at the same rate as 2020. <br />• Training to continue to meet newer state mandates (crisis intervention, mental health, conflict <br />management and mediation, implicit bias, diversity, etc.). <br />• Continued community engagement and crime prevention services. <br /> <br />As a result of a state grant, a dedicated auto theft investigator will be assigned to the Contract <br />Cities. Administrative citations will continue to be paid directly to the Contract Cities and not <br />included in any revenue estimates. The 2022 budget estimate does not include funding for civil <br />unrest, personnel‐related COVID‐19 expenses, or the contingency fund. <br /> <br />DISPATCH <br />Dispatch costs will be increasing by 10.8%, or $6,010. This is mainly due to an error that was <br />discovered last year in the way report queries undercounted medical calls in previous years for <br />cities served by Allina. This means an increase in call counts and an increase in cost sharing for <br />the years 2021 - 2023. The impact of this shift will happen over a three-year period (2021-2023) <br />as the use of a three-year rolling average of call counts smooths out variability in annual call <br />fluctuations. <br /> <br />FIRE <br />The fire costs are expected to rise by 6.1%, or $40,270 for 2022. This is mainly due to increased <br />wages for the chiefs and office manager ($58,610), an increase in coverage for family health <br />insurance to 80% ($6,000) and the addition of a firefighter to the weekday shift ($39,470), all of <br />which Arden Hills’ cost share portion is 25%. <br /> <br />The $78,400 tax levy increase being proposed for the General Fund is $2,880 more than the increase <br />needed to cover police and fire services ($75,520). <br /> <br />