HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995/08/28 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session 5
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MINUTES
1 ' CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK,MINNESOTA
Monday,August 28, 1995 , , ,
Mayor Hanks called the meeting to order at 7.00 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Jeff Jacobs, George Haun, Sue Sanger, Ron Latz, Robert Young and ,
Gail Dorfman.
Also present were City Manager Charlie Meyer, Finance
Directord Jeff Wilson fromt he auditincBrie, Asst. lg firm,
nance
Director Mark Felton, attorney Paul Tietz, Rob Tautges
Clint Pires,MIS Coordinator and David Anderson, Economic Development Coordinator.
1. Knollwood Place Revenue bond refinancin
nu
. David Anderson presented the report. Knollwood Place has made application to the City
requesting refinancing of existing debt on its project.
The
of tthe fact that thelbonds would not be
its desire to
request a waiver of the annual fee. He made special note
backed by the full faith and credit of the City, rather backed solely by the revenues of the project.
i The consensus of the Council was not to waive the annufo blic hearing a Septal fee, and to proceeS meeting andwith the edule
as outlined in Mr. Anderson's report, i.e set date p
conduct said public hearing on October 2
2. Presentation of 1994 Annual Financial Report and Management Letter
Rob Tautges of the City's audit firm presented the management letter which highlights the
financial status and trends of the various City funds and operations along with related information
as of Dec. 31, 1994.
3. Document Imaging
Clint Pires recapped his report.
Since the April 10 study session when Council first reviewed this concept. he and his staff have
done research to answer some of the questions raised at that time, e g , payback periods, hard vs.
soft cost savings, alternative methods of financing, contracting out vs. in-house. He briefly
discussed each of these elements which were provided more detailed in the report.
A question of security and outside access to an imaging system was discussed. Clint said this was
one of the areas needing further research
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Councilmember Sanger wondered if it would be feasible to have a joint effort with other
communities to cut costs. Clint responded at this point there is not a critical demand in other
communities. One thought might be for St. Louis Park to offer it as a service to other
communities.
Councilmember Dorfman wondered about the City being with one vendor, would this cause
problems in the future Clint felt this would not become a problem because with the rapid change
in technology, companies keep very up to date. The vendor of his choice does not charge its
customers for updates.
This matter will be placed on the September 5 agenda for Council action.
4. 1996 Proposed Budget presentation
Director of Finance Mac McBride gave the presentation. Her presentation focused on the
following areas. calculation of tax rate; tax capacity; market values; fiscal disparities. She pointed
out some areas of concern: reductions in HACA; the City a larger net loser from fiscal disparities,
potential LGA cuts. She noted staff has proposed a tax levy of 3.1%.
Mayor Hanks suggested reworking the figures with a proposed tax levy of 5% and bring a report
to Council on Sept. 5. At that meeting, Council will be asked to adopt a preliminary 1995/96 tax
levy, adopt the preliminary budget for 1996 and set public hearing dates for Truth in Taxation
hearings.
With a minimum number of dates left on which to hold the public hearings, staff was asked to
contact Hennepin County to see what accommodations might be made for the City's hearings
The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m.Pecording Secretary