12-12-2011 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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(4. HENNEPIN COUNTY UPDATE FROM COMMISSIONER JAN CALLISON, Continued) Hennepin County's Truth in Taxation hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29th. The Board set the maximum levy back in September at a 1 percent increase, which amounts to approximately a $47 million increase. Under that budget there is no increase for the Railroad Authority or the Housing & Redevelopment Authority. Hennepin County's administrator has proposed a budget that is 3.13 percent smaller in 2012 than it was in 2011, which is approximately a $50 million dollar decrease. In addition, the administrator is not proposing any increase in property taxes for 2012. One of the factors taken into consideration with the budget is state revenues. In 2011, Hennepin County received $33 million less than the state had originally projected they would be providing the County and in 2012 that number is expected to be $20 million less than what was originally anticipated. Hennepin County is seeing more people requiring government assistance. In July of 2011, the food service program served more than 129,000 residents, which is up from 81,000. Callison noted that under the budget by the administrator, he is proposing to eliminate the Eden Prairie Service Center, reduce Hennepin County's capital budget, and continue to work department by department to implement additional savings. Hennepin County is also aware of the change in the market value program from a credit program to an exclusion program. That means that other properties within the county have to make up for lower valued counties. As a result of that change, even though the administrator is not proposing to increase property taxes and the budget has declined, a residential property in Orono would see an increase of between 2.7 and 1.8 percent for their share of Hennepin County's budget and a business property would see an increase of 2.1 percent. Callison stated she would welcome comments or questions from the Council. McMillan noted that improvements to County Road 112 will be starting next year. McMillan noted Jim Grube has elected to wait to pick a consultant on that project until Orono has had an opportunity to hire a city engineer. McMillan indicated she has spoken with residents and business owners in Navarre about various improvements that could be done in that area. County Roads 19 and 15 experience a significant amount of traffic and Orono will be working with the property owners and residents in that area regarding improvements and road safety. McMillan indicated the City will be passing those comments along to Hennepin County and Jim Grube. McMillan noted Orono is just finishing up their organics recycling grant, and that the City appreciates the work the Environmental Services Department has done for this program. McMillan expressed her thanks to Hennepin County for making the resources available to allow this program to get up and going in Orono. McMillan commented that in her view the organics recycling is a great program in addition to the medicine collection program. Callison noted the State has set some aggressive goals for recycling, which may be difficult to meet in the coming years, but that she appreciates Orono's participation. McMillan stated Orono will continue to promote the organics recycling and medicine collection drives as much as possible, and thanked Commissioner Callison for providing her update to the Council. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 12/12/2011 Approval of Council Minutes 11/28/2011 [Page 2 of 16]