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12/06/1999 - 00000887THE MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 The Special Meeting of the Fridley City Council was called to order by Mayor Jorgenson at 7:30 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Jorgenson led the Council and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor 7orgenson, Councilmember Barnette, Councilmember Billings, Councilmember Wolfe, and Councilmember Bolkcom MEMBERS ABSENT: None STATEMENT OF MEETING CONDUCT: Please be reminded that those present at today's meeting may hold a variety of views and opinions regarding the business to be conducted. The exercise of democracy through representative local government requires that ALL points of view be accommodated at these proceedings. It is further expected that a standard of mutual courtesy and respectfulness be exercised by all in attendance, through our individual expression, manner of speaking, and conduct. Therefore, please receive the views of other with the same degree of courtesy and respect which you desire to be given your views and opinions. Any departures from this standard will be addressed by the Presiding Officer through whatever means are deemed appropriate. Thank you for your attendance at today's meeting, and your agreement to abide by these standards of personal conduct. ADOPTION OF AGENDA: MOTION made by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the adoption of the agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR JORGENSON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM, VISITORS: Mayor Jorgenson invited members of the public to come forward to address any items not on the agenda. Mr. Mark Dopperpuhl, 6281 Van Buren Street, stated that he would like a place to skateboard in Fridley. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 2 Mayor 7orgenson stated that the Council has looked into including a skateboarding area in Fridley, but presently, there is not one available due to high insurance rates that must be provided for these areas. A person's own residence is acceptable for skateboarding, and there are several municipalities surrounding Fridley with skateboarding facilities. Skateboarding is unacceptable on tennis courts due to the damage the skateboard can do to the pavement. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the Council addressed the issue of whether or not to put some type of skating park facility in. Legal liability is part of the reason the Council decided not to do it. The skaters would have to use the safety equipment that the insurance company would mandate such as helmets and knee, elbow, and shoulder pads. Mr. Dobberpuhl asked if the skateboarders could sign waivers. Mayor Jorgenson stated that unless the skateboarders are of legal age, a waiver would not be acceptable. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that this could be an issue for the Youth Commission to work on. Mr. Dobberpuhl stated that he is on the Youth Commission. Councilmember Barnette stated that the insurance policy was one of the issues, but he agreed that this is a wonderful issue for the Youth Commission to take on. The Youth Commission could do some investigation with the other cities that are already using skateboarding facilities. Councilmember Wolfe stated that Roseville had a skateboarding facility, but he believed it was closed because of the insurance rates. The Youth Commission could contact Roseville to see how their facility worked. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that the League of Minnesota Cities may have some information also. Mr. Dobberpuhl stated that Blaine and Shoreview have a skateboarding facility. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that the Youth Commission could discuss this with the other cities that are doing it. With City staff's help, they could explore this issue further. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the City of Coon Rapids was working on a facility with a church. Roseville has one during the spring and summer months. Shoreview has one at the Shoreview Community Center. One of the things that the City has to take into consideration is how many people are coming forward to put in this type of facility. Several years ago, there was some discussion about putting in a skate court around the horseshoe pit at the Columbia Arena area. That was when the liability issues came up. She thought it was an excellent idea for the Youth Community to be involved with this and to bring it the Parks and Recreation Commission. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 3 Mr. Dobberpuhl stated that he knows there are quite a few people in Fridley who would be interested in this. The problem with going to the other skateboarding facilities is that the youth do not have transportation to get there. Mayor 7orgenson stated that the Anoka County Traveler would take them anywhere in Anoka for fifty cents per ride. However, they would have to book the trip in advance. Councilmember Bolkcom asked how late the Traveler runs. Mayor Jorgenson stated that she believed they run until 11:00 p.m. Councilmember Barnette thanked Mr. Dobberpuhl for getting involved. Mayor 7orgenson thanked Mr. Dobberpuhl for being involved with the Youth Commission. Mr. Dobberpuhl thanked Council for listening. Mr. Richard Coleman, 188 River Edge Way, stated that he had a budget question. He noticed that in Focus News, there was an article from the City Manager giving a breakdown of some of the budget items. His question was why the Enterprise Funds were not broken down like the General Fund. Mr. Burns, City Manager, stated that he was going to explain that in further detail later in this evening's meeting. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the budget presentation is coming up shortly. Mr. Burns, City Manager stated that that information was published in the March newspaper that the City sent to all of the homes in Fridley. Ms. Lana Freeburg, 301 Rice Creek Terrace, stated that she would like more information regarding the budget, and how the citizens of Fridley can interact more at the public hearings when they do not have any information to look at. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the City has a calendar, which is adopted each year. The budget for 1999 was adopted in 1998. They have adopted the City Council meetings for the year 2000. This is public information available via the website or at the Municipal Center. The budget work sessions are held during the summer months because the budget has to be ready for the County by the end of August. The process is usually started in February and continues through the middle part of July. All of the budget work sessions are public meetings at the Municipal Center, as are all of the meetings that the Council is involved in. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that on August 23, Mr. Burns presented the numbers for the preliminary budget that goes to the County in September. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 4 Ms. Freeburg asked what type of input citizens could have tonight that could be effective being that the budget has already been done. Mayor Jorgenson stated that this meeting tonight is called a Truth in Taxation Hearing, which is mandated by the State of Minnesota. The budget is almost set at this point in time because the County needed to have the information to send out the Truth in Taxation statement that everyone should have received. The Truth in Taxation statement contains the proposed property tax. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the budget would be discussed later in the meeting during a public hearing after the budget is presented. There will be opportunity for questions then. Ms. Freeburg asked why the total budget amounts for spending had only the property tax comparison. Mayor Jorgenson stated that that statement is required by the Secretary of State's office. They tell the City which format and when it should be published. The Department of Revenue states that they must publish them not less than two business days but not more than six business days before the meeting will be held. Some people received Focus News Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. It is difficult to time that notice to meet the requirements that the State Department of Revenue tells the City they have to meet. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that the notices for the December 6 meeting were published in Focus News on September 16, and October 7. Councilmember Billings stated that it is also on the Truth in Taxation form. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. 2000 CITY OF FRIDLEY BUDGET: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR JORGENSON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:52 P.M. Mr. Burns, City Manager, stated that the budget provides some continuations and very strong pro-active and responsive municipal government services for Fridley. This includes a variety of continuing program, which meet the needs of the citizens of Fridley. One of the new things is a School Resources Officer assigned to Fridley High School. Project Safety Net and the food program will be continued. The Comprehensive Planning process will be completed. Some street improvements are planned for the Melody Manor area. The budget provides for an aggressive code enforcement and rental housing inspection program. It provides for the replacement of playground equipment in some parks. It provides for the mowing of the SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 5 University Avenue Corridor. These are just a few of the things provided for the in the year 2000 budget. Mr. Burns stated that there are different areas of the budget he would like to talk about. First of all, he would like to talk to a little about the legislative conte�t in which the budgeting is completed. He wanted to also address the budgeting process and issues that were raised during the work sessions. Then he would like to talk about the 2000 budget as compared to the 1999 budget. The State legislature does not budget the funds, but what they do has a great impact on what Fridley does with the money they have to spend and the expectations and guidelines that guide the City in their decisions. In the 1999 legislative session, the State legislature continued the state aid and HACA distributions at about the same levels as in the past. They maintained levy limits and continued to refuse to restore sales tax exemptions for cities. They also imposed limits on market values on the City Assessors, limiting their increases on the market value on property to 8.5 percent. The legislature narrowly decided not to institute a reverse referendum procedure that would give residents through a petitioning process the right to circulate a petition and have a budget levy placed on the ballot. They also eliminated the use of a language process called amortization by cities and phased out the non-conforming land uses. The legislature asked Cities to begin retrofitting bleachers. They also placed strict restrictions on the use of tax increment funds from districts that were created in 1979 and 1982. This very definitely structured the City's financial policy-making. The source for future predictions made in the budget message was a staff member from the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities. Mr. Burns indicated that he asked him for a prognosis on what was going to happen in the year 2000. He was told that in the 20001egislative session, there would not be any changes in the state aid to be received. He was also told that the legislature would not restore the sales tax exemption for cities, and that levy limits would not be e�tended. He also indicated that there would be much discussion in using the budget surplus for interregional transportation projects like light rail and the Northstar Corridor project. He says that there would be no further changes in the market value or property tax rates. He said that there would be a serious effort to move the regulation of cable television from the local level to the State level. He indicated that there would also be another large education levy subsidy approved by the State legislature in the year 2000. This individual was almost totally correct last year with his predictions. Mr. Burns said he felt the prognosis for the year 2000 was pretty accurate. The budgeting process was basically a year-long process, beginning in January and continuing through the presentation of the budget message by the City Manager in December. One of the first steps in the budgeting process is a comprehensive issues survey. The department managers and their staff think about future policy issues that may loom on their department's horizons over the ne�t twelve to eighteen months. A survey is prepared from the results. Council and SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 6 commission members are asked to respond to the survey questions. The responses to the survey, along with responses from the citizen surveys are provided to department managers when they form their draft budgets for the ne�t year. This process usually takes place between January and May. The Council holds budget work sessions in June. In 1999 there were around issues that were considered during the budgeting process. Some of these included the hiring of the School Resources Officer, expanding the Information Systems staffing, consideration of replacement of Police and Public Work equipment requests, and employee health insurance increases. They also talked about additional expenditures for the preparation of the City's Comprehensive Plan. They talked about the City's contribution for public access television. They talked about replacing the two projectors in the City Council's Chambers. A Year 2000 Capital Improvements Program was discussed and how they might address the General Fund gap between revenues and expenditures. The City Council decided that there would be no new property taxes for the year 2000, but instead they would rely on the franchise fees that they hoped would be approved by the voters in December. Council also heard Mr. Pribyl give a prognosis on the water and sewer enterprise funds and decided that they would not raise water and sewer rates for the year 2000. The budget for all of the budgeted funds is $13,988,218 or about 6.8 percent less than what was budgeted for 1999. General Fund expenditures are projected to be increased by 4.1 percent. They are set at $11,500,000. Most of the increase is attributed to personnel costs. This includes a three percent cost of living adjustment for employees. It will cost $229,937 with an additional $89,502 in health insurance costs to the City. There are a number of personnel changes that will add $55,500 to the budget. The personnel changes include the addition of a police officer and a full-time IS employee in the Finance Department. The cost of the police officer will be almost entirely covered by federal grant revenue, but the hiring of this employee will add $41,500 to the expenditure side of our budget. The net cost of the IS employee will be $14,000. The cost of equipment in the year 2000 will be $528,835, or 11.35 percent more than what was budgeted for 1999. This consists of dump trucks, mowers, welders, and fire equipment. Most equipment is replacement equipment. There are a couple new items. One is the automated telephone messaging system the Police Department requested. Another is a tractor/mower to be used for mowing University Avenue corridor. Mr. Burns stated that they have four special revenue funds. Overall, the 2000 budget provides for $916,164 at 1.9 percent less than the special revenue for 1999. The first is the cable television fund. The budget there is just over $156,000. This is 3.2 percent less than the budget for 1999. The budget for the Grant Management Fund is $211,400 or 6.5 percent more than what was SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 7 budgeted for 1999. That budget includes $122,000 for the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funded housing rehabilitation program and another $22,000 for the CDBG human service programs. The remainder of the budget is appropriated for the Section 8 housing assistance program and its Handiworks program for seniors. The budget for the solid waste abatement fund is $300,039 and is ten percent less than what was budgeted for 1999. Most of the reduction has to do with a better than expected price from the recycling contractor. The Housing Revitalization Fund was established in 1994 by the City Council for use in acquiring and/or rehabilitating single or multiple family housing. Once again, $250,000 has been budgeted for this purpose. The budget for capital improvements is $1,448,800, or 46.5 percent less than the amount budgeted for this purpose for 1999. The 2000 projects include $980,000 for street improvement projects, and includes $500,000 for reconstructing parameter streets in the Melody Manor area. It also includes $180,000 for seal-coating streets in the southeast portion ofFridley, and $300,000 for painting the City's traffic signals. Another capital improvement area is for buildings and lands. The 2000 budget includes $256,500 for this purpose. The biggest expenditure is $237,000 for a new Fire/Public Works facility near Columbia Arena. It also includes some funding for small improvements for the Municipal Center reception area. The third capital improvements area is parks. There is $304,700 allocated for various parks improvements. This includes $186,000 for playground equipment upgrades in five City parks. This also includes $30,000 for replacement of the Moore Lake aerator and $28,500 for asphalt court repairs and overlays. Additional money has been budgeted for ADA-related improvements to our parks, and for park furnishings. The City of Fridley has established four Enterprise Funds. The year 2000 projected expenditures for these funds is another $13,471,000. Altogether the City budgets over $26,000,000 for these two large categories. The enterprise money expenditures are considerably higher than they were in the budget for 1999. The water fund budget is set at $1,839,926. That is 9.4 percent more than the budget for 1999. About two-thirds of the increase is for additional depreciation on water system improvements. That budget also includes $43,000 for an additional Water section employee. The sewer fund budget is $3,000,118 or 22.3 percent less than what was budgeted for 1999. The reduction of $883,771 is entirely due to reduced costs for sewage disposal. The Storm Water budget is $371,071 and will increase by 5.3 percent. This is attributable to additional depreciation charges for recent storm water projects. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 8 The Liquor Operation Fund is the main reason why the enterprise funds are up. That budget is $8,184,996. This is 136.7 percent more than the amount budgeted for 1999. The increase is almost totally attributable to the new liquor store on 57t'` Avenue. Eighty-seven percent of the budget for the liquor operations fund is not for employees, but is for cost of goods sold. The tax impact for the year 2000 budget is negative. The City's portion of taxes on an average home, estimated at $105,000, will increase by 70 cents. The increase is attributed to class rate changes. Taxes in Fridley are comprised of many different variables, including the rate of the property appreciation, school district levies, changes in class rates that are introduced by the legislature, and the state's education tax subsidy. Mr. Burns stated that he has taken all of these things into consideration, and has tried to make a prognosis of what the taxes on the average home would be in Fridley for the various school districts. In two of the school districts, taxes on the average home will go up. In two of the school districts taxes on the average $500,000 home will go down. In the Columbia Heights and Spring Lake Park school districts, the taxes will go up. In the Anoka-Hennepin School District No. 11 and Fridley School District No. 14, property taxes are expected to go down. The City's portion of these taxes should be fairly constant because there has been no tax increase. The unreserved discretionary fund balances have dropped from over $24,000,000 in 1996 to $19,080,861 at the end of this year. Because of positive variances and other factors, the unrestricted discretionary General Fund balances have not dropped as much but are expected to drop more. These fund balances do not necessarily equate cash. Earlier in the month, he asked the Finance Director to tell him how much cash would be left after paying the bills from all funding sources. It was the Finance Director's estimation that there would be about $22,000,000 in cash, and of this amount $6,000,000 is available for various discretionary projects. The rest is earmarked for capital improvements, working capital, and replacement of fixed assets. Mr. Burns stated that fairly recently, the City has learned that they are expected to receive a check from the State of Minnesota for contributions that they have made to their pension system. In 1999, the State combined the police pension system with the public employees retirement system, and as a result of that Fridley's contributions were recalculated and it was determined that they had surplus funding invested in the police pension. This means that the City will receive a check for about $2,100,000 sometime ne�t year. This may be spent only for police-related items and the designated use of those funds must be subject to a public hearing and Council approval according to legislative mandate. In 7anuary or February, they will be considering this unexpected revenue. In four of the last six years, the City has been spending more for the General Fund than the revenues it has been taking in. The numbers prior to 1999 were actual numbers. Even with a franchise fee, they are still projecting a$921,000 dip into the balances in order to support the General Fund. There is a consistent pattern of drawing down the General Fund balances fairly rapidly. Thirty-four percent o the General Fund revenue comes from property taxes. Another twenty-nine percent comes from state aid. It is projected that 16.3 percent is to come from the franchise fee. That is up from 10.4 percent from the year before. If the franchise fee is not approved by the voters, the distribution of the General Fund revenues will remain much as it was SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 9 for 1999, except that transfers from fund balance will jump from 11.8 percent of the total revenues in 1999 to 13.6 percent of total revenues in 2000. The transfer amount will probably raise from about eight percent to about thirteen percent. In the year 2000, they are budgeting about $200,000 from the Liquor Fund, and another $232,900 from the Closed Debt Service Fund, and $468,000 from the General Fund Reserve. The total is $921,746. The actual expenditures have increased by about 3.1 percent per year. These increases are largely attributable to the addition of new programs that has been occurring since about 1994, when funding for three additional police officers was incorporated in the budget. Fridley's economy is booming. The City is doing well by all indicators. The average unemployment rate is down to 2.06 percent. The number of Fridley jobs has increased by 2.7 percent by nearly 25,000. The value of new construction as of Novemberl, 1999 is $43,000,000. That compares with $20,000,000 that was reported for this time last year. In 1999 there has been fourteen projects that had a value in excess of $500,000, compared to three projects of that magnitude in 1998. Mr. Burns stated that he could not obtain retail sales figures form the State Department of Revenue. They were not available this year. Property values have also gone up. The value of homes in Fridley is $1,335,433,136. This number is up 4.7 percent. The rate of increase has been about six to eight percent depending upon where you are. The decrease of the value of railroad properties is really dragging it down calculated at a State level. Residential property value has gone up by about 6.3 percent. Commercial/industrial property has also been in that order of magnitude. The tax capacity fell dramatically by 4.4 percent between 1998 and 1999 to nearly $26,000,000. While the tax capacity has increased, it does not mean they are paying anymore taxes. They get only what they levy. While there is an additional capacity there, they are not using it. Crime rates are down for the second year in a row by 5.8 percent. The incidence of all kinds of crime is down from 3,638 at this time last year to 3,426 for the first nine months of this year. Part I crimes like murder, rape, and robbery, are down by 3.9 percent, and Part II crimes like assaults, forgery, and vandalism, are down by seven percent. The number of families the County reports receiving cash or food stamps is down by 9.9 percent, the number of kids in Fridley school system receiving free or reduced lunches is up by 4.8 percent. While abject poverty is down, there are some families with children experiencing financial difficulty. The SOt'` anniversary year has been a great year. They have seen Medtronic start constructing a building that will be one million square feet of international headquarters space and will create countless jobs. They have had a very active and enthusiastic SOt'` Anniversary Task Force putting on a wide variety of events. They have reconstructed 4.3 miles of streets in Riverview Heights and continue a very aggressive housing rehabilitation program. They concluded the first full year SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 10 of operating the Teen Center and call it "The Zone Underground." They continued the upgrades in playground equipment for City parks. They completed the Comprehensive Code Enforcement Program. There are many challenges ahead, however. These include completion of the Comprehensive Plan process, responding to the impacts of the Medtronic project, construction of a new redevelopment project along University Avenue and 57t'` Avenue called "Gateway East"'. preparation for the Northstar Corridor Commuter Rail Project, continued efforts to expand community-oriented policing, resolution of the public access television issue, and continuing with replacing playground equipment. It is with a sense of pride of where the City has been in 1999, as well as respect for the challenges and work that lies ahead, that he presents the 2000 budget. Mayor Jorgenson asked Mr. Burns if he had any information on what they call an average house in Fridley for tax information. Mr. Burns stated that he did put some information together and later learned that the average house he was working on was in the Land Zone, which has seen some tax reductions, so he is not sure about that one. In general values, that home increased by about 33 percent and the taxes had increased by about 33 percent since 1992. Overall, there has been an increase of about 3.3 percent per year in value, and about 3.3 percent per year in interest. Mayor Jorgenson stated that she was more interested in just the City's portion. She continues to hear from some residents that while the City is saying that their taxes are not going up, the total tax bill is, and they need to look at that portion that relates directly to the City of Fridley. Mr. Burns stated that their total tax bill, depending on which school district they are in, is between fourteen and fifteen percent of the total bill. Mayor Jorgenson stated that she understands that, but she is interested in what the tax increase from 1990 to the year 2000 budget. Did it go up or down, remain the same, so people have something to base that information on. Mr. Burns stated that he was sorry, but he did not have that information. Councilmember Bolkcom asked for clarification about the school resource officer. Mr. Burns stated that they have been responding to the availability of police for various purposes relating to the needs of Fridley. In earlier years, they have seen a need to deal with special crimes such as theft of vehicles and crimes against businesses. In this case, they have recognized that a lot of the policing effort is properly directed at youth and the school systems. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Burns about the Comprehensive Plan and whether it was a mandate that they had to fulfill which they do not get any money for. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 11 Mr. Burns stated that was correct, the cost for the planning part is about $5,000. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Burns about the cost of the liquor store, and the transfer of funds from the Liquor Fund to the Community Center. Mr. Burns stated that they spent $28,000 for assistance with equipment preparations. They transferred money from the Liquor Fund to the General Fund to support the General Fund obligations. Councilmember Wolfe asked about the University Avenue mowing, and if the City was getting paid from the State. Mr. Burns stated that University Avenue is a State highway. The City is mowing it because the State only mows it twice a year. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that they heard loud and clear from the citizens present at the vision meetings for the Comprehensive Planning that the University Avenue should be mowed more often than twice per year. Mr. Burns stated that the citizen survey also shows that people are in agreement to this also. Mayor 7orgenson stated that many business members feel that approving the appearance of the City by mowing University Avenue is important to businesses as well. Mr. Richard Coleman, 188 River Edge Way, stated that his percentage of City taxes has not gone up. His house has gone up about eight percent (8%) this year. This means that his portion of City tax went up. He asked if the revenue from property taxes increases with the rate of inflation. Mr. Burns stated that the City only gets what they budget for. It does not increase. It is roughly the same amount as what they budgeted for 1999. Mr. Coleman asked if moneys in excess of that were collected. Mayor Jorgenson stated that it is not collected. If they do not raise the property tax levy, they do not get that increase in taxes. Mr. Burns stated that none of the ta�ng jurisdictions do that. Councilmember Billings stated that last year, they budgeted about $4,000,000 in property taxes. This year, they are budgeting about $4,000,000 in property taxes. The legislature is changing the formula. They would like to equalize property taxes between businesses and residential. Businesses have been paying about twice as much as residential for the last several years. In the last year, there has been some adjustments so businesses are paying less, and residential are paying more. The City gets the same total amount. Mr. Coleman asked if the addition of the liquor store, included buying the property also. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 12 Mr. Burns stated that the capital investment cost of the liquor store was $670,000, and the City is leasing the property. Mr. Coleman asked if the City had not gone along with the liquor store venture, that would be appro�mately the same value as what the City is getting from the franchise fee. Mr. Burns stated that it is appro�mately the same value, but the potential for earnings in that location can produce as much as $500,000 net income. Mr. Coleman stated that could be used toward the $14,000,000 in new property improvements. Mayor Jorgenson stated that they do not have a recent value on that. They are only going to get what they levy. Mr. Coleman stated that they could raise the levy without actually having any increase in property values in the residential homes. If they raise the levy, but have more properties to pay property taxes, the new properties will pick up the property taxes that actually lower residential taxes. Mr. Burns stated that everybody will pay pro-rated this year, based on their class rate. Mr. Coleman stated that the $14,000,000 in new properties will not affect his property taxes. Mr. Burns stated that was correct. Councilmember Billings stated that to some e�tent, if the increase in value throughout the City is four percent, and they raise the levy by four percent, in theory if it is all new property, the taxes for residential will stay the same. Mayor Jorgenson stated that some of the new property value is located within businesses. Mr. Coleman asked if there was a rough estimate. Mayor 7orgenson stated that Medtronic, Onan-Murphy Trucking Warehouse and, the Noah's Ark senior housing building ne�t to Wal-Mart are examples of a few. Even though new property values are being generated from these, the tax that the City of Fridley will get remains the same as predevelopment until that district expires. The money that is generated from the taxes goes into the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, which is a separate fund. That money helps to offset some of the cost for some non-profit organizations. Mr. Coleman stated that the non-profit organizations are definitely a value to the City. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that another example would be homes where the value goes up, but the house is a certain number of years old and only taxed a certain percentage of the first ten years of that improvement. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 13 Mr. Pribyl, Finance Director, stated that fiscal disparities is a bigger issue also with commercial properties. Mayor Jorgenson stated that fiscal disparities is when the legislature has set aside a formula to look at large commercial industrial bases and pools that money and distributes it to cities that do not have the large commercial base. Mr. Coleman stated that the portion allocated for spending from the franchise fee towards the Police Department, is money coming back from the state. He asked what the amount budgeted in new expenditures for the police force was. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that the money is coming, but not coming tomorrow so it will not really help immediately. It is very well defined on what exactly it can be used for. Mr. Pribyl stated that it has to be applied to police-related activities. Mr. Burns stated that the Police Department budget is actually about the same in 2000 as in 1999. A lot of that has to do with some turnover and more entry level police officers. Mr. Coleman stated that he has read literature that states that it costs about $50,000 for a new police officer which indicates that the budget is going up and there is justification for the franchise fee. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the personnel cost includes a police vehicle and equipment. She stated that she did not think that Mr. Burns answered the question regarding the total tax dollar amount that the Police Department will be using from the proposed franchise fees. Mr. Burns stated that he did not know that they ever stated a specific tax dollar amount. Since 1990, the General Fund expenses have only gone up three percent per year, and the revenues are very quiet. The Police Department is part of that. Mayor Jorgenson stated that one of the issues with the franchise fees is that the City is still going to be drawing money down from the reserved funds by approximately $600,000. Mr. Coleman stated that they are able to generate $500,000 from the liquor sales, and it will take just over a year to offset the cost of setting that up. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that one of the things they are talking about regarding the police fund is that first of all they would have to have a public hearing. They would also have to look at the huge issues of communication amongst all of Anoka County. They do not have any idea of what kind of money they are looking at. It is premature to say what they will do with the $1,200,000. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 14 Mr. Coleman stated that many citizens are in support of the police/fire workers. They are doing a greatjob. Mayor Jorgenson stated that she appreciates that. Mr. Coleman stated that he is a little confused about what is going on with the liquor store, but it seems to be enough positive for the City. He believes the City should be funded properly, and he believes in the non-profit organizations. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the City does not have the ability to go back and change the property tax rate. That is directed by the County. Whatever they are going to have ne�t year is a shortfall. They are going to need to take e�tra money from the revenue funds or making tax cuts across the board. The funds used for the liquor store did not come from the General Fund. It is from the Enterprise Funds that have been set aside specifically for the operation of that other store. Ms. Freeburg asked where enterprise funds come from and if these funds are itemized. Mayor Jorgenson stated that they come from the Water Fund, and all of the money from the Sewer and Liquor Funds and the funds are itemized. Ms. Freeburg asked Mr. Burns if the presentation he gave was on paper. Mr. Burns stated that was correct. Ms. Freeburg asked why Mr. Burns had to read through something that they have on paper. Mayor Jorgenson stated that was so the citizens at home know what they have. It is part of the communication process. It is the Council's intent to let the average resident to be able to see what is being perceived at the meetings. Ms. Freeburg asked if they were on video tonight. Mayor 7orgenson stated that they were live on television this evening. Ms. Freeburg asked if those papers were available. Mr. Burns stated that he could give her a copy. Ms. Freeburg asked what a reverse referendum is. Mr. Burns stated that earlier in the legislative process, there was a piece of legislation that provided for placing local budget levies on the ballot with ten percent (10%) of signatures. This was not approved. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 15 Ms. Freeburg asked if they had to share the unexpected revenue for the Police Department with Anoka County. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that was incorrect and they still have to figure out where that money would best be used in the Police Department. Mayor 7orgenson stated that Councilmember Bolkcom was referring to the 800 megahertz communication system that the County was going to require so that all of the cities can communicate to each other in the event of a natural disaster. Mr. Burns stated that the money will come after they have done the public hearing process sometime ne�t year. Ms. Freeburg stated that it would have been nice if she could have had something in print at this meeting rather than having to follow the overhead screen. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that she does not think it is any different than when they have an agenda for the meetings. That information is not available beforehand, and it is not something the Council keeps from anyone, you just need to request it. Ms. Freeburg asked if the agenda is available to the public. Mr. Burns stated that it is published in the library. Ms. Freeburg asked if it would be online in the future for the citizens in Fridley. Mr. Pribyl stated that there is an agenda identified, but as far as downloading the information packets, it is not available. Citizens could call and request an agenda and review it at the library or the Municipal Center. The intent of the Council this past year has been to put the information on the website listing the dates of the Council meetings and agenda items. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the information regarding the proposed consent agenda is on public television on Channel3 5. Ms. Freeburg stated that in the newspaper, she has tracked an increase in the levy that has come in from the City portion of the property tax. Over the last couple of months, she has heard that they have not had an increase. Mr. Pribyl stated that the way that they are required to put together their levies for the County is to actually have both the property tax and the homestead credit together. Those two added together represent the City levy. Ms. Freeburg asked where the homestead credit value is found. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 16 Mr. Pribyl stated that it is found in the intergovernmental portion of the financial statement. He told her to call him if she has any questions. Ms. Freeburg asked about the statistics given about Fridley and how things are in the City. It was determined that Fridley had a low unemployment rate. She asked how you find out what the unemployment rate is in Fridley? Mr. Burns stated that you would check with the State Bureau of Employment and Security. Mayor Jorgenson stated that it is tracked by the individuals who actually go to the unemployment office and apply for unemployment versus those that find jobs. Ms. Freeburg asked for clarification regarding public access television. Mr. Burns stated that they have been using Paragon Cable for public access services. They took the proposals for public access providers and put that matter on hold due to the response and uncertainty of the whole television industry. They assumed they could do better with Paragon, but the issue needs more discussion. A lot of it depends on what the State legislature does. Ms. Freeburg asked for clarification regarding the survey of the people in Fridley. Councilmember Bolkcom stated there was a telephone survey conducted of five hundred randomly selected homes in Fridley and an overview of the responses were televised on cable television. Mayor Jorgenson stated that videotaped copies of the City Council meetings are placed at the library and are available for check-out. Ms. Freeburg asked how long they are available for. Councilmember Billings stated that Ms. Freeburg would have to check with the library. Mr. Burns stated that the telephone survey was random and supposed to be statistically accurate. Councilmember Barnette stated that he saw that the survey represented the City even by the precinct and asked if the copy would be available for Ms. Freeburg to look at. Councilmember Billings stated that they do a similar survey every two years. They employ a professional company that does these surveys so they are statistically accurate. Well over one hundred questions were asked. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that sometimes they spend 45 minutes to one hour and a half talking to people. This company does surveys for many other cities, and the questions are changed relating to the City's specific concerns. SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 17 Mayor Jorgenson stated that the survey was also compared to other cities as well to see how it related to other communities surrounding us and across the cities metropolitan area. Ms. Freeburg asked for clarification regarding the average home in Fridley. Mr. Burns stated that it is the mean value versus the median. The mean value is all of those values added together divided by the number of homes. Ms. Freeburg asked if it would be an accurate view of the City and the number of units of homes if they took the one in the middle and had it be the median. Councilmember Billings stated that it is intended to give people an idea, they cannot list the 4,000 homes in the City and compare each one to the other. They do not have access to all of the values of each and every home to sit down and add them all up. Mayor Jorgenson stated that the typical home they are talking about in Fridley is a three bedroom rambler, which represents at least fifty percent. Ms. Freeburg thanked Council. Councilmember Bolkcom stated that Council would like to make the budget process more easy to understand. She said she appreciated citizen's questions and the fact that they are interested. She felt it was positive that people are asking questions and want to be involved with what is going on. Mr. Pribyl stated that ne�t Monday evening on December 13, they will be reviewing the resolutions for the levy and for the budget Mr. Burns spoke of this evening. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Wolfe. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR JORGENSON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 9:10 P.M. NEW BUSINESS: 2. INFORMAL STATUS REPORTS: Mr. Burns, City Manager, stated that he has a list of the precinct polling places for December 14. He asked Brian Strand, Video Specialist, to post those on the cable television station. People who are interested can obtain that information from Channe135. They can also call Deb Skogen, City Clerk, at (612) 572-3523. ADJOURN: SPECIAL FRIDLEY CTTY COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 1999 PAGE 18 MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR JORGENSON DECLARED THE DECEMBER 6, 1999 SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:12 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Signe L. Johnson Nancy J. Jorgenson Recording Secretary Mayor