City View by Chad Adams

On Monday the City Council will hear comments from the public on the city’s proposed 2016 tax levy and budget. We encourage the public to attend the meeting to learn about the proposed 2016 budget and provide input on the budget and tax levy. Please also feel welcome to contact your City Council member or the city manager’s office to learn more about the budget and provide feedback.

In mid-September, the City Council approved a preliminary tax levy at a rate increase of 3.32 percent compared to current 2015 taxes. The preliminary levy was increased to fund road and infrastructure projects, not to the city’s general fund (operating budget). This is the fourth consecutive year that this has happened. Downtown North and South Broadway, Lakeview Boulevard and overlays within several neighborhoods are examples of the projects funded this way.

Over the past several months, city staff and the City Council held a number of work sessions to hear from all departments on proposed budgets for both operations and capital projects. The council asked detailed and difficult questions about spending philosophy and management. Our staff provided detailed answers to assure the council that the city is being fiscally responsible while meeting the organizational and community service needs.

To achieve no increase in the general fund tax levy, the city has used a number of innovative approaches and opportunities to keep taxes stable. Some examples include: improved efficiency in operations collaboration with other agencies to share resources and spending (and further avoiding duplication); utilization of past year surpluses as a reflection of the sound budget management by all departments to fund following year budgets; and some periodic increased revenue sources beyond local taxes (such as local government aid and increased building permit activity and revenues).

The 2016 proposed general fund budget encompasses some of these innovative approaches and opportunities.  We’re strengthening our police and street services by adding an additional position to each department. The budget forecast for 2017, as part of our long-term financial management planning, presently illustrates another no to low increase in our general fund tax levy through additional expenditure savings. We are projecting that 2018 and beyond will need some tax levy increases to sustain present services to the community, particularly since local government aid is not currently projected to increase to our community. In the next few months, we’ll advocate strongly to the state Legislature and governor’s office to secure an increase in local government aid to maintain our critical services. A resolution is on our agenda this coming Monday evening to advocate for such funding. Inflation on city service expenditures alone will require additional funding sources to meet our needs.

An overview of our financial forecast and planning will be provided at Monday’s council meeting. The financial management plan we have prepared incorporates the next 10 years of projects needed for completion, primarily involving street improvements. The city will need to continue to borrow for most of these road projects through tax levy increases, but we will also be discussing some opportunities to stabilize tax increases through the use of some past year surplus funds. In 2016, the city plans to provide improvements to Lake Chapeau Drive, Park Avenue, Edgewater Drive, the second phase of Lakeview Boulevard from Hatch Bridge to Martin Road, and complete neighborhood street improvements in the 5th and 6th Wards of the community.

The city has provided valuable investment into our aging infrastructure improvements. This will limit larger tax increases in the future as part of our strong preventative street maintenance program. We need to continue completing timely street mill and overlays, crack sealing and chip sealing to prevent streets falling into a further state of disrepair, which would likely involve much more costly reconstruction of streets. The City Council wisely initiated this preventative maintenance plan approximately 10 years ago through borrowing funds. The City Council and staff have continued and enhanced our efforts to not only maintain, but also catch up on infrastructure needs.

We look forward to hearing from you in the coming days to answer your questions and to discuss our 2016 proposed budget and long-term financial management plan.

 

Chad Adams is the Albert Lea city manager.