2021-07-28 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Assessing is up $1,600 based on the contract with our new assessor group headed by Mary Wells. We have about $70,000 budgeted to the police contract increase and about $12,000 for the fire contract increase. These budgets will be finalized in August and we can enter final figures at that time. Staff has adjusted the allocation between Building Inspections, Public Works, and Park departments based on recent trends. The net changes in salary reflect the overall increase in public works salaries. There is a rather dramatic reduction in Workers Compensation insurance in the Public Works. I have discovered that our formula for allocating the premiums did not distribute any to the utility funds. We will correct this in coming years and reflect that in the budget. There is a $2,000 increase in engineering fees in Streets to reflect recent experience. An increase in salaries and professional services in the Recycling area is offset by the increased SCORE revenue from Anoka County. This reflects our commitment to recycling activities. We also have an increase budgeted for transfers. This reflects a $3,500 increase in transfers to the Equipment Replacement Fund per the programmed progression and $3,700 for the EDA based on their recent budget recommendation. The overall effect of these changes is an increase to the General Fund levy of $151,305. This levy is offset by a decrease in our debt service levy of $49,391. The net increase of 101,914 represents a 3.7% increase in the overall levy. y regarding our property value increases that will offset this. Staff is attempting to make an estimate with our new assessor group to determine what effect this will have on an individual property owner. The overall effect will be lower than 3.7% based on the new commercial and residential property values that have been added in the past year. The above information does not account for any of the anticipated American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds, which we anticipate receiving in the next week. The use of those funds is more restrictive than the previous relief funds. Staff is working on ideas for the use of these funds and working with the League of Minnesota Cities to get additional guidance as it becomes available. There will still be additional changes as we proceed with the budget through the preliminary adoption in September. Staff is happy to discuss budget issues and answer questions at any time with council, property owners, and residents. After this discussion, staff will bring back a full budget, including information on capital fund expenditures for equipment, streets, and City Hall parking lot improvements at the Work Session in August.