See this 27-minute video clip excerpt titled: 2012 Tax Levy and Adopting 2012 . . . → Read More: Video: 2012 budget approved]]> City Manager Scott Neal made a summary presentation on the budget to the City Council on Tuesday night. It included highlights of the public engagement budget process with the Citizens League, some discussion, and then a unanimous vote to approve it. 

See this 27-minute video clip excerpt titled: 2012 Tax Levy and Adopting 2012 Operating Budget:

Rousing success might be a little too enthusiastic, but I think I can say that it went pretty well.  In my blog yesterday, I predicted that we’d get to budget around 9 pm and wrap up the meeting around 10 pm.  By golly, that wasn’t to far from the actual . . . → Read More: Budget night: a rousing success]]> [reposted from my blog here]

Rousing success might be a little too enthusiastic, but I think I can say that it went pretty well.  In my blog yesterday, I predicted that we’d get to budget around 9 pm and wrap up the meeting around 10 pm.  By golly, that wasn’t to far from the actual time frame.  We started consideration of the budget around 8:15 pm and wrapped up the meeting at 10:10 pm.  Not bad.

The Council approved the budget as proposed.  I gave a short summary of the budget contents in yesterday’s post, so I won’t get into that again today.  Suffice it to say, a post describing the contents of the budget in detail would be unreadable in length.  It might not be all that interesting either.

We will put final touches on the approved 2012 budget during the last few days of 2011 as we get ready for the year ahead.  This is normally a time when workloads wind down a bit, but we’ve got a lot going on right now, so it’s back at it.  Edina is no place for slackers.

Tonight is Budget Night.  Well, technically, it’s a City Council Meeting night.  But for those of us involved in the city government budget making process, tonight is the night when the City Council takes final action on the proposed City budget for 2012-2013.  Tonight is the culmination of a long . . . → Read More: Budget Night]]> [reposted from my blog here]

Tonight is Budget Night.  Well, technically, it’s a City Council Meeting night.  But for those of us involved in the city government budget making process, tonight is the night when the City Council takes final action on the proposed City budget for 2012-2013.  Tonight is the culmination of a long process and a lot hard work.  It’s the night where the City Council can come together nicely or break into factions.

What will happen tonight?  I am not a betting man, but I believe the Edina City Council will end the night coming together rather breaking apart.  The budget proposal that I will be making to them tonight is a reasonable one.  It grows some services (economic development, facility management and environment protection), but holds most everything else we do at current levels.  It places a stronger emphasis on tighter management of our municipal enterprises (golf course, ice arena, art center, aquatic center, liquor store, etc.).  It includes additional funding ($700,000) for capital improvements and ($300,000) for technology upgrades.

Our Total Tax Levy increase to support all of the above, and much much more, is 1.79% from 2011.  This creates an increase in tax burden for the median single family home in Edina of 2.7%, or $28 for the year.  I’ve been in the city management business long enough that I know enough not to call that increase low.  But, I will call it modest, particularly when the 2011 Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) is currently projected to end 2011 at +3.5%.

It’s about 3 hours until the Council meeting starts.  I suspect we will be getting to the budget discussion around 9pm.  If all goes well, we will have a budget approved and ready to share with the world by 10pm tonight.

2. Results from the online survey that was part of the 43-minute screencast presentation on the budget will be included in the compilation of all the budget sessions that . . . → Read More: Summary from 11.29 public participation budget session; comments from online budget survey]]> 1. Citizens League Project Director Stacy Becker has compiled a summary (PDF) from last week’s public participation budget session at the Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse:

2. Results from the online survey that was part of the 43-minute screencast presentation on the budget will be included in the compilation of all the budget sessions that will be presented to the City Council.  Some people submitted comments to the open-ended questions on the online survey and those responses are included here:

Q3. What is your view of the proposed use of the $2.5 million in available cash

• Property tax savings are insignificant per house. I would rather see the monies used to invest in Edinborough, the golf courses and the water park.
• Before this can be answered I would like to see a zero based budget approach in establishing the city budget to determine the true requirement of needs. Public budgets have been automatically been increasing and it is not sustainable. And it is not responsible. Other questions:

1. Is there any waste that should be solved first?

2. Are there better ways of providing city services?

3. Are there things that Edina should not be involved in that they are currently involved in? It seems this budget review is only working on this question. And don’t know that this review is really dealing with other things that maybe the City should not be involved in.

4. What is it costing taxpayers to support unions for public employees? Is it still necessary? It appears that City Staff and City Council are enough resources to manage the needs of employees. Or please share more of what the pros and cons are.

5. How do public employee increases compare to the private sector? How are the pensions determined for public employees? What medical benefits are provided? How do these compare to the other residents in the city?

6. I hear there are a lot more public employees per capita as compared to other cities. Is that correct, e.g. compared to Eden Prairie?

• I think you need to rethink this. I do not think I can afford to live here much longer.

Q4. What principle should guide the financing of the Golf Courses?

• The private sector does it. So should the city
• Zero based budgeting on this first to see if waste, better ways of doing things, or maybe not offer certain services if can’t afford to provide them. Determine how many residents are actually using it to determine how the costs should be handled. Then ask questions to residents in a way they have a relevant comparison. E.g. Would you like a fee of X to be charged if you save $500 a year in property taxes? Then residents can determine what it is really worth to them.
• Braemar range could be expanded as that is a money maker but no significant improvements are really needed. It was a down year for golf because the weather stunk in 2011 and the economy was down and a lot of us had to work harder to keep our jobs which meant less time for golf.

Q5. What principle should guide the financing of the Braemar Ice Arena?

• I personally do not understand how a place that is open 24 hours/seven days a week, cannot be making more money. Fees for hockey should go up. Everyone knows ice time is expensive and its not unexpected.

Q6. What principle should guide the financing of Edinborough Park?

• Edinborough Park is a wonderful investment and is used by many young families and children in the neighborhood. Its a safe great place especially in the winter time. It should not be expected to make money, it was never intended to when it was developed. It is an important asset to the Southeast side of Edina. I would be devastated if this was to close.

Q7. What principle should guide the financing of Centennial Lakes Park?

• Centennial Lakes was never intended to be a money making enterprise. Continued investment is needed so the area continues to be a valued family area. It is an area I use every year and is a wonderful place to get away from everyday life in the summer.

Q8. What principle should guide the financing of the Arts Center?

• The arts center has a wonderful media program where families can transfer old personal family films to DVD and memory cards. I think the size is just about right.

Q9. What principle should guide the financing of the Aquatic Center?

• The aquatic center is used by many people outside of Edina by many young families in Minneapolis. It is a very safe and wonderful facility.

Q11. In the future, how do you think the excess revenues from liquor sales should be used?

• Public Safety (police and fire) and roads
• I paid $12,000 for street reconstruction on Park Place. How much does the city Public Works department really need, they have a huge brand new building, where is this money going??

Q12. In general, which statement best reflects your opinion of the City’s property tax levels?

• Yes, we Edina residents get a great deal. We have a great community with attractive amenities and services that translate into relatively stable property values. Despite the current dour real estate market in adjacent cities, Edina continues to be a prime choice for prospective home buyers. Edina’s current tax rate doesn’t seem to dissuade folks from moving to or remaining residents of Edina.

Q23. Based on the discussion, how important is it to provide citizens this type of opportunity to weigh in on budget policy?

• The more information citizens have about the budget and the processes used to arrive at the numbers, the better. Rather than gut reactions, citizens need facts.

Edina City Manager Scott Neal and Citizens League Project Director Stacy Becker held the final of 4 public participation budget meetings last night at the Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse.  About 20 citizens attended.

You can read the summaries from the previous three meetings here. We’ll have a summary from last night’s meeting available soon.

City Manager Scott Neal is participating and Assistant Finance Director Eric Roggeman is available to answer online questions, too.

Watch the screencast, take the poll, and chime in!

Citizens League Project Director Stacy Becker has compiled summaries from the three public participation budget sessions that were held a couple weeks ago.

See the PDFs:

If you missed these, you . . . → Read More: Summaries from Nov. 1-3 public participation budget sessions; two more opportunities remain]]>

Citizens League Project Director Stacy Becker has compiled summaries from the three public participation budget sessions that were held a couple weeks ago.

See the PDFs:

• Nov. 1 session, Arneson Acres Park
• Nov. 2 session, Edina Community Center
• Nov. 3 session, Edina Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility

If you missed these, you have two other opportunities:

• Tuesday, November 29, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse
• Budget blog: screencast presentation, poll, and ongoing discussion

When? Tuesday, November 29, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Where? Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse

See the live Google map below for directions.

View Larger Map

A number of Edina’s park facilities should have to cover more of their own costs. That was the message from 10 Edina residents who gathered Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the Edina Community . . . → Read More: Edina Sun Current on the public engagement budget workshops]]> There’s an article in this week’s Edina Sun Current titled Building a better budget: Edina, Citizens League gather public input by Katie Mintz:

A number of Edina’s park facilities should have to cover more of their own costs. That was the message from 10 Edina residents who gathered Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the Edina Community Center for one of three public engagement workshops on the city’s proposed 2012 budget.

The meetings held last week, as well as an online workshop, were a first for the city. City Manager Scott Neal said they are a new way of gathering input, feedback and ideas on city decisions. Edina officials worked with the non-partisan Citizens League to develop the format this fall. "There’s a large amount of untapped brain power in Edina," Neal said.

Questions put to residents were designed to elicit overarching values and principles on budgetary decisions. Most had to do with the city’s enterprise funds for special amenities like the Edina Aquatic Center, Edina Art Center, Edinborough and Centennial Lakes parks, Braemar Golf Courses and Braemar Ice Arena.