Laserfiche WebLink
Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, August 25,2014 <br /> Page 32 <br /> At this time, Community Development Director Bilotta clarified that those funds <br /> were intended to be in "build-up" mode, since the Housing Replacement program <br /> was lean, but the 1840 Hamline Avenue funds were coming back into the bund; <br /> and the HRA would eventually determine how many projects it could manage at <br /> one time. However, Mr. Bilotta noted the need to have funds available to allow <br /> the HRA to move quickly on any blight abatement opportunities came forward. <br /> Also, Mr. Bilotta noted there were a lot of payables still coming in from the Dale <br /> Street multi-family project, and at some point in time the Business Retention and <br /> Expansion projects on the commercial side (e.g. Terrace Drive), funds may be <br /> needed. <br /> Mayor Roe noted that these were preliminary budget and levy numbers at this <br /> time, with the actual setting of the Preliminary HRA levy done in September. <br /> Since the HRA would not be meeting again before that adoption, Mayor Roe sug- <br /> gested the City Council provide clear direction for addressing any significant <br /> changes between the preliminary levy adoption in September and final levy adop- <br /> tion in December. <br /> City Manager Trudgeon clarified several items for the benefit of the City Council: <br /> 1) The single-family loan funds used to be all supported by levy dollars, but was <br /> no longer, allowing the HRA to lower that levy amount with the intent they <br /> not be continually funded,but become sustainable on their own. <br /> 2) As the budget process moves forward, by November the HRA should have a <br /> better sense of their carryover cash, at which time their levy request could be <br /> reduced if appropriate depending on those refined numbers. <br /> As always, Mr. Trudgeon noted that it was staff's responsibility to make sure they <br /> didn't over-levy by fine tuning those numbers before the final levy and budget <br /> was adopted in December. <br /> At the request of Mayor Roe, City Manager Trudgeon advised that the proposed <br /> HRA levy was anticipated to change the annual HRA tax from $34.50 to $38.50, <br /> for an average priced home in Roseville. <br /> Councilmember Willmus opined that this increase represented an 11.4% increase <br /> from 2014 to 2015; and if the City Manager was looking for an indication from <br /> the City Council as to their comfort level with this proposed levy, in his personal <br /> review of proposed reserve policies versus the relationship with the HRA and <br /> City, he did not see any need to duplicate reserve amounts. While it may not be a <br /> fair way to look at it, Councilmember Willmus stated that this was his perspec- <br /> tive, and he probably would not be supportive of this proposed HRA levy increase <br /> at this point. <br /> Councilmember McGehee stated that she didn't feel that way, partly due to the <br /> history of watching the HRA and their performance for the City and accomplish- <br /> ments to-date on important initiatives, including the Neighborhood Enhancement <br />