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(NotebodI..~frompage 1) Q. Can the final proposal be different? A. You bet. this is. a draft proposal and Is not final until Council votes. Just ,ask the folks at City Hall to send you the draft goals proposal. Input can be received up to about May 5. Send your thoughts to City Hall marked Attention: Goals. If you like the ideas or dislike them please say so. If you have alternative ideas we want to h~ from you. Money and Taxes Q. A. I am at the limit of what I can afford for taxes. Aren't you spending a lot of money? Very good question! The first page of the draft proposal states, each goal must be: "Implemented without ,."" taGS". ' . Contrary to some published reports, the money will come from the existing General Fund Budget adopted by the previous CounciL On April 24, Council will hold a workshop to examine the existing budget and identify funds that could be used to support the goals. Currently, the City General Fund Contingency Is at approximately 75%. The City Auditor recommends a 40% General Fund Contingency and Council will probably be a bit more conservative than that and maintain a 50% reserve. this Is impor- tant because the City receives revenue only twice each year. Enough money must remain in the Contingency Reserve to pay the bills for up to 6 months. Cities that are not as well managed as CenterYille end up borrowing money to make ends meet and that costs taxpayers. interest. The contingency is one of the General Fund areas we will be discussing on April 24. Q. If the proposal Is adopted can you sustain the programs Into the future or Is this a one-time effort? A. The goals are a roadmap for the next 2-year period. Money and emphasis will be placed on the future budgets for 200 I and 2002 as well as the current budget. Q. You talk about future year budgets. Might we see some tax relief? A. Council will begin deliberations on next year's budget in August. I promise that you will get a budget proposal that identi- fies where the money will come from and how it will be spent in plain English and I will ask for your input and what is Important to you. this Council and past Councirs have tried to emphasize economic development. We have property east of 20'" Avenue zoned for commercial and industrial uses. Business Is choosing to locate in Centerville and that is one way to reduce the tax " burden not only for residents but the entire Centennial School District. . Secondly, I am very aware that as houses appreciate, your taxes can go up even though the City did not raise the rate of taxation. Council will focus on these tax rates starting in August. Parks, Recreation, Gardens and More Q. You have several proposals that talk about La Motte Park. Can you explain this In greater detail? A. Sure. Let's start off with the ice rink/skateboard rink proposaL The Parks and Recreation Committee did extensive re- search on the subject and held an open house with residents last faiL The proposal Is to make the ice skating rink into a dual- purpose facility, that during winter will be used ,as a hockey rink and other times of the year as a roller blade/skate board rink. Every time a new house is built in Centerville the developer pays a fee into a fund dedicated for park facilities or to purchase parkland. This special fund will pay for the ice/skate rink and to provide electricity to La Motte Park based on the recommen- dation of both the Park and Recreation and Fete de Lacs Committees. The fund will not exist once the City is completely built. The City asked for grant money to build a concession stand and playground equipment from the state. Q. You talk about summer camps, swimming at Centemlle beach, YMCA and a host of other recreation Items. What about existing programs? Are they going away? A. Certainly not. Existing programs such as Little League, soccer and hockey would all continue just as they do now. To aug- ment those programs the City might partner with other cities or vendors to provide recreational opportunities. The Parks and Recreation Committee is working on these recommendations and already has some ideas ready to be implemented. The idea of using CenterYille Beach (Anoka County Park) is to provide a safe place to swim. When I was a kid (long ago) summer was always spent swimming. The City can enter into an agreement with the County to offer this opportunity to all our citizens. The YMCA is paid for by signing up for the camps and City money Is not used for that purpose. The iong-range question is what services do residents wand Q. Gardens? A. OK. I admit it. This was one of those 4 AM in the morning thoughts that go on paper. The feedback I am getting is posi- tive. A small fee can help defray the cost of getting the dirt and associated costs. We are looking at the area behind City Hall. but a number of sites could be tilled. Let's dig dirt!