City Council Minutes 08-28-2000 SpecialMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, August 28, 2000 - 5:30 p.m.
Members Present: Roger Belsaas, Roger Carlson, Clint Herbst, Brian Stumpf,
and Bruce Thielen.
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Rick Wolfsteller, Jeff O'Neill, John Simola, 011ie Koropchak,
Roger Mack, Fred Patch, Kitty Baltos
Mayor Belsaas called the budget workshop meeting to order. City Administrator, Rick Wolfsteller
reviewed the preliminary budget documents submitted to the Council. The proposed budget would
result in a levy increase of $585,000. At this time the City is not able to obtain information from the
County Assessor on what the tax capacity value is for the City of Monticello so the City is not able to
determine the effect of the proposed levy increase.
The Council discussed at length improvements to be looked at for the year 2001, which included the
library expansion and the Broadway street improvement. It was noted that the County had moved up
the timetable for the improvements to Broadway. It is estimated that the City's share of this project
would be approximately $500,000. John Simola indicated that the amount of the City's share is
affected by whether the City allows parking along Broadway. If the City allows parking, the City pays
the full cost of the parking lane. Otherwise the County pays half the cost of the median and all the
cost of the road. Since the sewer and water lines in this area are some of the City's oldest lines, the
City may consider replacing them as part of this improvement. In order for the City to fund this cost
by a bond issue at least 20% of the cost of the improvement must be assessed. Although the design
of the project has not been finalized at this point and the City may still have some input on design of
the project, the City does need to plan for the funding for the City's share of the cost.
The Council discussed using the $700,000 surplus from 1999 and park dedication funds to finance
some of the proposed improvements. There was some question on how the park dedication funds were
designated for use, whether they were meant for land acquisition only or if it was also meant to cover
park development. Bruce Thielen asked if funding was set up where they could break out what was
available for park dedication funds. It was estimated that there is between
$50,000475,000 that has been collected for park dedication fees. Jeff O' Neill noted that where the
park dedication fees have been assessed, the City is collecting the money over a period of ten years so
the fund is taking longer to build up. There was also discussion whether park dedication funds
generated by a specific development should only be used for development of parks in the area of the
development. The Council felt that the park dedication funds should be allowed to build up for a year
or two before these funds are used.
Roger Belsaas asked about the funding to replace the City's core streets. John Simola stated that in the
Capital Improvement Program the cost of replacing the core streets has been spread over 10 years.
Special Meeting Council Minutes - 8/28/00
There was discussion on the assessment policy for replacing these streets and whether it was realistic to
accomplish this over ten years or try to shorten that time frame. John Simola indicated that to do 1/4 to
1/3 of the core streets each year would require a budget outlay of $500,000 to $750,000.
Some means for decreasing the levy amount were discussed and included:
Cut funding for Community Ed/YMCA
Elimination of one position in the Planning Department
Reduce number of added police hours from 8/hrs per day to 4/hrs per day.
Delay the purchase of the large screen printer for microfilming.
Use surplus from 1999.
It was noted that the replacement of the street lights for Broadway is not in the capital outlay budget.
John Simola felt the street lights should be replaced at the time the street is replaced. It was suggested
that maybe $150,000 from the 1999 surplus could be used for the street light replacement.
The Community Center operations budget was briefly discussed. Roger Belsaas felt that it would take
at least another year of operation to come up good figures for budgeting purposes. Some of the 1999
surplus could be used to offset the operating cost for 2000 for the Community Center.
Roger Mack, Street Superintendent, urged the Council to consider the overlay of 7t' Street from
l approximately Cedar Street to Washington Street. If the street is not overlaid within the next year or
two, the street will likely require more work than just an overlay. Roger Mack indicated that this
portion of 7t'' Street does not have curb and gutter. However, the $68,000 estimated cost covers the
overlay only and does not include curb and gutter.
Rick Wolfsteller stated that although information from the county would not be available until after
September 15, the preliminary information he has shows an overall market value increase of about
7.6%. The increase comes equally from new construction and overall market value increase due to
inflation.
The Council indicated that the changes discussed should be incorporated with the information for the
next budget meeting which will be held at the first Council meeting in September. The Council is
looking to come up with a levy increase of approximately $300,0004350,000 for the preliminary
budget.
The budget workshop session closed at 6:45 p.m.
1OowZIr, s
t Recording Secretary
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