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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004/09/20 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES T. LOUIS CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION RK September 20, 2004 1. Call to Order The meeting was convened at 7:03 p m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers John Basill, Phil Finkelstein, Paul Omodt, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, Sally Velick, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Staff present. City Manager(Mr. Harmening) and Recording Secretary (Ms. Stegora-Peterson). Guests from the School Board: Debra Bowers (Superintendent), Jeff Pness (Director of Business Services) and Keith Broady (School Board Chair). 2. School Referendum Ms Bowers stated that the referendum was 18% of their income. It was cntical to their mission and if they didn't have the funds available, they would need to begin looking at reducing programs, closing schools and grade configuration alignment. They would be looking at$7 million in reductions They had already absorbed cuts in administration, maintenance, buildings and grounds, etc and would no longer able to keep the cuts away from the buildings. If this didn't pass, they would begin that work and it would impact all of their lives Mr. Pness reviewed the presentation materials. They currently have the authority to levy $1421/student. 71% of the revenue comes from the State and 18% from the local levy, which had been flat for the last three years. They would be asking the voters to renew the levy that would be expiring, for an inflationary increase. Ms. Bowers mentioned that this year they again had a $1.2 million shortfall. If they have $400,000, it would help to offset that, but they would still need to be very financially prudent They were really watching the bottom line Mr. Pness stated that the general education revenue made up most of the 71% of revenue from the State. Cumulative reductions since the 2002/03 school year had been $5 5 million due to no increase in state funding. Ms. Bowers noted there was inflation on transportation. Teacher salaries were raised less than inflation. Mr Pness indicated teachers received 1% on the first year and 1.5% the second, every one of the other bargaining units had their salary schedules frozen for a three-year period That included step movement as well for one year Councilmember Sanger asked if the referendum failed, would residents receive a tax reduction? How much would that be9 It might be helpful to show that it wouldn't be a large amount Mr. Pness replied that in talking with their consultant, Bob Noi, that was something they didn't want to put out because some people may think it was a big tax cut. Special Meeting Minutes -2- September 20, 2004 Ms. Bowers stated if the referendum failed, this winter they would begin looking at closing schools and increasing class sizes seven to eight kids. Councilmember Basill wanted examples to show people. Mr. Pness replied that class size would be drastically impacted. Program elimination. This was on the operating budget Ms. Bowers stated they had already made serious cutbacks at the district office, there would probably continue to be some there, but it would now hit the classrooms. They would probably close a school. Councilmember Sanger thought it would be very helpful if they could translate it, if this didn't pass, it was the equivalent of"X" teachers. Mr. Pness thought it would be approximately 50 teachers and they presently had a total of 320. Ms. Bowers indicated closing an elementary school would gain about $500,000 without the Principal, health clerk, custodian, etc. If you look at $7 million, class sizes would have to go up. 85% of what they did was in salaries Mayor Jacobs stated they would become a bad school district and people had a pretty good sense that their housing value, whether they had kids in the school or not, was inexorably tied to the value of the school It wasn't Just about having a fourth grader, it was about being around fourth graders and property values, and people could see a decrease. Ms Bowers stated that they were competing against Hopkins, Edina and Minnetonka and were doing well now They had a few more kids coming in than they were losing. Through PSI, International Baccalaureate, and programs that her predecessor had done, they had been able to stem the flow of kids out of their school district If they did not have those kinds of programs, it would mean losing the kinds of kids that they wanted to have. Mr Pness noted that the City Council could have a discussion about whether or not they wanted to vote to increase certain levies, the School Board was not allowed to have that discussion because of State law. If they were not at the cap, which they had been, they could have a discussion about whether or not they wanted to hold a referendum election to let the voters do it. This created the impression with some people that the schools were always going to them looking for money, but that was because other public bodies could have discussions and votes on whether or not to have increases. They couldn't say that costs had gone up and they needed another 3%. Councilmember Finkelstein thought they could make an argument that State funding had declined when it didn't take inflation into account and they were paying for increased fuel, health care and wage costs Councilmember Santa asked how long the levy was for? Mr. Brody replied it was ten years and the last levy was five years. Mr. Brody stated until 1999 the local levy was based on tax capacity. The law said by 2000 it needed to be based on market value They could do that by Board vote and have it go for five years. They did that and waited until the last year because the City gave them approx. Special Meeting Minutes -3- September 20, 2004 $400,000/year from TIF money. When they shifted to market value that would no longer be available. They did not have to go out for a ten-year renewal. Councilmember Sanger asked if the operating levy did not pass this year, did they intend to bring it back on next years ballot? Mr. Brody replied it would be irresponsible not to do that. They weren't going into this levy campaign as a dress rehearsal. They wanted to get it this year. Ms. Bowers stated if they had to cut $7 million, almost 20% of the budget, it would take a lot of group process to do that and would cause a lot of concern about which school they would close. If they didn't have to go through that pain, she didn't think any of them wanted to. Mr. Brody reviewed the bond referendum. Mayor Jacobs stated a question that they would get at neighborhood meetings was that they Just did this and "why were they doing it again?" They needed to explain why it was different and how it was different and articulate that. Ms. Bowers indicated the web site [www.slpschools.org] shows building by building what they spent on the last bond. Mayor Jacobs suggested they have the information posted in other places such as the Rec. Center. Councilmember Sanger also suggested having a one-page fact sheet to provide people. Mr. Priess indicated that the Superintendent was going to send a letter out to the community that would hit many of those points Ms. Bowers indicated that the Vote Yes committee was working on a one-page sheet on how the last bond was spent Half of that was for indoor air quality Councilmember Sanger asked who was on the Vote Yes Committee? Mr. Brody provided the names. Mayor Jacobs asked if they would be doing lawn signs? Ms. Bowers replied it depended on how much funding they had. They were currently setting up phone banks, looking at doing postcards and letters to the editor. They were working through ways to put out information. 3. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m , C ty Clerk Mayor