CC_Minutes_2018_0716 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday,July 16, 2018 Page 2 play in some form including the increase in the competitive bidding process threshold from $100,000 to $175,000. However, this will not necessarily have an immediate or direct budgetary impact in 2019. There were also a number of in- creases for various infrastructure and economic development funding that the City will potentially have access to. City Manager Trudgeon noted that the Council had previously decided to send out the budget response cards, so that the public would have the opportunity to com- ment on the City Manager's proposed budget. He asked for Council feedback on the potential wording of the response cards. Councilmember McGehee noted that the commercial/industrial and apartment units had different tax valuations as compared to the single-family homes. She al- so noticed that a lot of money was passed for parks and recreation in the 2018 State bonding bill. She wondered how the City could get on the list of things that were itemized for funding. Mayor Roe clarified that the Assessor's report lists the median value, which can be challenging to track with commercial/industrial, since property values range so widely in that category. He noted that the aggregate figure is perhaps more meaningful, as it increased 3.8%. Councilmember Willmus commented on the median value of residential, noting that the numbers on page 1 of the RCA were taken from the County, which takes its information from the Northstar/MLS. Current data may show that these num- bers are about 10% low. Looking at the transition from commercial properties to residential properties, it will be magnified even more going forward, as those numbers start to hit the books at the County. Councilmember Laliberte noted that the City will have to be talking to the legisla- tors about the City's bonding request during the entire 2019 session, because there will be a lot of education involved. It looks like there will be a lot of changes in the legislature, so many members will not know about regional assets. Mayor Roe noted that what is approved in the bonding bill is not always what everyone wants at the local level. Ultimately it comes down to the choice of the legislature. Mayor Roe moved the discussion to the draft budget response card. Councilmember McGehee noted it would be nice to include space for any addi- tional comments that did not fit into the printed questions. She also asked for a hard copy of the Power Point presentation from this agenda item at City Hall, should residents want to come in and look at it.