Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/09/2013

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As Council is likely aware, the city of Elk River recently completed a similar analysis to determine the best funding program for their long-term street reconstruction program. In the end, the Elk River City Council adopted the use of franchise fees to fund their street reconstruction program. In addition, they incorporated a rebate program for property owners still paying off their assessments from previous projects. This rebate simply refunds the annual franchise fee amount to each of those property owners over the remainder of their assessment term. In April, staff emailed a survey questionnaire to other Anoka County cities asking for information on their current funding practices related to their long-term street reconstruction programs. Results from this survey will be presented to Council at the time the formal case for approving a funding program is presented to Council for consideration of action, which staff anticipates will most likely occur on August 13th. Paul Donna, Senior V.P. with Northland Securities, and Finance Director Lund will be in attendance and can provide more detail on some or all of the financing options, especially as they pertain to the 2014 budgeting process. Recommendation: Based on the information presented herein, staff recommends moving away from the use of special assessments as a funding source for our long-term street maintenance and reconstruction program, and instead utilizing franchise fees to supplement MSA, general obligation debt, and General Fund Revenues, to fund this long-term program into the future. If the City Council directs staff to pursue the use of franchise fees, staff will then develop a proposed franchise fee rate schedule for the private utilities utilizing our right of ways to conduct their business. Funding Source: Staff recommends utilizing Franchise Fees to fund the city's long-term street maintenance and reconstruction program in the future. Council Action: Staff requests Council direction and/or feedback regarding preferred funding options and cost estimate assumptions associated with the city's long-term street maintenance and reconstruction program. LT Street Funding Table LMC Handbook Ch25 Northland Funding Options Attachments Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Diana Lund Diana Lund 07/03/2013 12:40 PM Kurt Ulrich Kurt Ulrich 07/03/2013 02:38 PM Form Started By: Bruce Westby Started On: 07/02/2013 02:35 PM Final Approval Date: 07/03/2013