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FAIRMONT– On Monday evening, Fairmont City Council approved the proposed 2022 budget and levy. The proposed levy represents an increase of $ 332,908 over the 2021 levy, an increase of 5.9%.
The anticipated tax impact on property taxes is 2.2%, assuming the property assessment remains the same.
City finance director Paul Hoye provided a brief comparison between income and expenditure for 2021 and 2022.
As for the special income funds, Hoye said they hit nearly a million in local option sales taxes.
“It’s a good thing that people buy locally” said Randy Lubenow, board member.
As part of the capital projects, Hoye said larger projects slated for 2022 include replacing the Humane Society roof, replacing patrol cars and a rescue boat for firefighters.
“We have set aside $ 150,000 for the extension of the Cedar Creek Park trail, which is scheduled for 2022”, Hoye said.
Reynolds said in the capital projects they also included $ 39,000 for the zoning code update in 2022.
“To make it cleaner, clearer, and easier to understand and bring in newer philosophies and ways of approaching zoning to add more flexibility in our zoning compared to what we currently have in place.” said Reynolds.
Some of the projects described to use liquor store funds include replacing playground equipment, some updates to the skate park, and updates to the Gomsrud Park landing stage.
“Twenty-six thousand is the total number of improvements we need to make at the water park. It becomes a better position. We have invested quite a bit of money in this facility over the last few years and we are getting to the point where most of the mechanical parts have been replaced, so we are in a better position there ”, Hoye said.
He said there will still be $ 185,000 in liquor store funds that will be available for future capital projects.
Mayor Deb Foster asked if this is the typical amount of expenses that are taken out of the liquor store each year. Hoye said that over the last few years they have actually run out of funds, so that’s less.
The proposed increase in levies was initially set at 5 percent with a tax increase of 2.2 percent.
Lubenow asked about what HR updates the city needs and if more money can be added to the budget.
Reynolds said they budgeted $ 30,000 for 2022 for the HR contract. She said she thinks they are in line with what they want, but the board can increase the amount.
“We cannot go up compared to what we have defined tonight, but we can always go down” she said.
Board member Michele Miller asked what was included in the $ 30,000. Reynolds said they are considering policy updates for all policies and the establishment of a performance review system. Miller asked if the job descriptions fit in.
“Currently the staff are working on all updates to the job descriptions. AEM (Abdo, Eick & Meyer, the entrepreneur that the city has as a human resources consultant) can do them. said Reynolds.
Lubenow asked if the League of Minnesota Cities has generic job descriptions that can be used. Reynolds said she didn’t know of any.
Miller said she believes job descriptions and performance reviews are essential and that she is not opposed to increasing the budget amount for anything that implements an HRA program.
Hoye said if they increased the levy by $ 50,000, that would bring the levy to 5.9 percent, instead of 5 percent. Reynolds said an additional $ 50,000 would allow AEM to do more work and hopefully by 2022 all projects would be completed.
“I think if we’re spending the money, I guess in my opinion we’re behind in HR with the City of Fairmont. Our salaries are quite high, we have over 100 employees, so if we can do things to free up time for safety assessments and job competitions, it will save us money in the end ”, said Lubenow.
He said he doesn’t think it’s fair that city workers don’t have a job description. Reynolds clarified that they have job descriptions, but are working to assess and update them.
Council brought forward a motion to modify the proposed property tax levy to include an additional $ 50,000, making the levy an increase of 5.9 percent over last year.
Moving on to other questions, Kawecki told the board she wanted more data regarding Dutch Creek to be collected for the board to consider. Specifically, she would like to take sediment samples from various locations since Budd and Hall lakes are the city’s source of drinking water.
Kawecki proposed to collect two grab samples of sediment from each site, the mouth of Dutch Creek on Hall Lake, the entrance to Amber Lake at Hall Lake, and the culvert south of Steve Pierce Park.
Lubenow seconded the motion.
Peters asked what the cost would be.
“We have the Lakes Restoration Fund, in the amount of $ 65,000 per year, which supports the quality of our water. The quality of the water seems quite important since we drink water from Hall Lake and Budd Lake ”, Kawecki said.
She said the fish in Budd Lake had polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in their tissues and when she spoke to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency they said the PCBs came from contaminated sediment.
Council member Bruce Peters asked what the end result would be. He said the DNR report indicated the dredging would be aesthetic.
“I think there’s a lot more going into that. If you talk to Martin County Water and Soil… MNR will tell you they are not water quality experts. They will tell you that the MPCA is ”, Kawecki said.
Lubenow said it appears Kawecki has done his research and would like to know what the sediment sampling process is. He asked City Engineer Troy Nemmers what he thought of it.
Nemmers said the city could do it, but would have to hire a soil lab to assess the samples. He said he had no problem proceeding, but asked what the test parameters would be.
Lubenow suggested filing the matter until they can get more information from the MPCA so the board will know if it is realistic to be concerned.
The motion to collect sediment samples failed without a vote from every council member. Reynolds said they will try to get more information and get it on the agenda for the next city council meeting.
In another action, the council passed a resolution approving the sale of unprotected land for sale as tax forfeited property in the Town of Fairmont.
Reynolds said 713 4th St. E, 724 1st St. E and 506 1st St. E. are the three remaining properties inside Fairmont on the tax forfeiture list this year.
“The 4th Street property is the one the council had talked about. It is the one with the tree on the roof that we were trying to remove from the list of tax confiscations in order to demolish it ”, said Reynolds.
She said they had looked at the other properties and Reynolds said 724 1Dt St. E was in poor condition and while she was not in favor of removing the housing stock, the renovations needed were too much to support. that she thinks it is fit for demolition.
For 506 1 St. E, Reynolds recommended suspending the sale for six months to give them time to assess whether the property is likely to be rehabilitated.
The board approved the motion.
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