08-26-2013 Council Work Session Packet

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A number of General Fund Departments are able to be reduced. The Administration budget is decreasing by$74,800 (22.2%)by the elimination of the Deputy Clerk position. The Human Services budget has decreased by $2,000 to reflect a change in budgeting for the Sojourner Project. This is a program that offers services to women and children whom are victims of domestic violence. It is utilized by the Police Department and the budgeting was changed so that our contract cities would pay a share of the bill. One of the actions taken by the 2013 Legislature was to reestablish the sales tax exemption for Cities. In Central Service,various line items that were subject to the sales tax have been reduced by a total of$8,670. This has resulted in a decrease of$7,942(-3.2%)for the department. The line item for postage has been increased by a total of$2,000: $1,000 to adjust the base budget to actual; and an additional $1,000 for postage on an additional newsletter. Printing and Publishing was also adjusted slightly for an additional newsletter, but the increase was largely offset by the sales tax exemption. The Professional Services line item in this budget was increased to cover additional expenditures related to online code updates.Public Works is another department that is seeing a budget decrease that is largely the result of the sales tax exemption. The budget is decreasing by $10,820 (2.3%). The Police Department budget shows a small decrease of$6,626(-.17%). However,within the budget certain line items had significant changes. The total wages total a decrease of$51,515. This is due to two factors. First,with the retirement of a senior officer,the department realizes a savings of$21,000. The second factor involves budgeting for the Mound service contract. The 2013 budget included a temporary position for the transition period. This position has been removed from the 2014 budget. Other lines in the police budget that are out of our control include:PERA,Liability Insurance,and Fuel. The 2013 Legislature changed the contribution rates for the Police and Fire Plan of PERA. This was an $18,000 to the budget. The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust changed their premium structure to increase the premiums for cities that have a police department. This is a$12,000 increase. The motor fuels line item is being increased by $9,600. The Police Department was of the departments that benefited from the sales tax exemption. The total estimated savings for the General is $35,000. The amounts by department are: Central Service - $8,670,Police-$15,000,Public Works- $8,220,and Parks-$2,800. Other departments will see small savings (less than $100) that were not adjusted in the budget. Items for Discussion At the June work session, the Council provided direction on a number of items and requested more information on other items. The items discussed were: • Tax Levy —At the Council's direction the budget has been prepared with no increase in the property tax levy. • Building Inspections—The Council indicated that it was not inclined to outsource plan review or inspections at this time. Outsourcing plan review may be considered in future budgets.