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1 <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br />April 25, 2016 <br />5:00 o’clock p.m. <br />___________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />PRESENT: Mayor Lili Tod McMillan, Council Members Jim Cornick, Jr., Aaron Printup, Lizz Levang, <br />and Denny Walsh. Representing Staff were City Administrator Jessica Loftus, Finance Director Ron <br />Olson, Public Works Director/Engineer Adam Edwards, Senior Planner Michael Gaffron, and City <br />Clerk Diane Tiegs. <br />GUESTS: Hennepin County Assessor, James Atchison; Long Lake Council Member, Lizz Olson; <br />Cemetery Board Members Jim Dillman and Sam Retinger <br />1. Hennepin County Assessor Contract - Presentation from James Atchison <br />The City of Orono contracts with Hennepin County for assessing services. The current 4-year <br />contract expires on July 31, 2016. Hennepin County Assessor James Atchison provided information <br />to Council which included an “At a Glance” information fact sheet and a PowerPoint presentation <br />reviewing the services offered. <br />Mr. Atchison reviewed the diverse types of properties and their values which include executive <br />homes, lakeshore neighborhoods, and small neighborhoods. Property valuation ranges in Orono <br />are 32 percent $0 – 400,000, 34 percent $400,000 – 800,000, 17 percent $800,000 - 1.2 M and 17 <br />percent are $1.2M and higher. Orono has a culture in which residents call and expect a personal <br />response regarding their concerns. Orono has had the most contacts regarding the valuation <br />notices for a community of its size. <br />The Hennepin County Assessor’s Office provides excellent customer service and education to the <br />community and residents. The Hennepin County Assessor’s office houses two staff appraisers at <br />Orono City Hall, Tom Kunik and Mike Smerdon. Their time at Orono is 80% re-evaluation phone calls <br />and 20% reviewing property. Housing staff and property records at City Hall provides a quicker <br />response to resident requests. <br />Hennepin County is in the process of implementing the e-homestead applications online. This is set <br />for June 2016 County-wide and will create a more efficient process. Risk Management issues are <br />addressed by the Hennepin County Administrators and no extra fees are incurred. Legal advisors <br />from the County Attorney’s office are at the assessor’s disposal. Open Book efficiencies and future <br />improvements may move to the format of region meetings rather than community. This would <br />allow more opportunity for residents to bring forth their valuation concerns as the Open Book times <br />and dates would be for more than one 3 hour session per community. Hennepin County Assessors <br />are qualified to appraise all properties within the county. <br />Item #03 - CC Agenda - 05/23/2016 <br />Approval of Council Work Session Minutes 04-25-16 <br />[Page 1 of 5]