Agenda - Council Work Session - 06/28/2016

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The City provides a variety of municipal services. These include a full-time police department,a volunteer fire department, engineering services, street and park maintenance, building inspections, planning and zoning, public improvements, general administrative services, and public water and sewer utilities in the urban service areas. The City adopts an annual budget for the General Fund and the EDA Special Revenue Fund. Legal level of control is at the function level. Department heads may transfer resources within a department as they see fit. Transfers between functions,however,need special approval from the City Council. LOCAL ECONOMY The City has an unemployment rate of 3.8% in comparison to the state average of 3.7%. Ramsey has an employed labor force of 14,543. Anoka County,in which Ramsey is located,has an employed labor force of 192,597 and an unemployment rate of 4.0%. There are approximately 6,712 detached single-family homes and 2,117 multifamily units located within the City. In addition,there were 83 single-family homes and 207 multifamily homes constructed in 2015. The City has two major industrial districts containing multiple business parks with a combined capacity of 320 acres and 25 businesses. Currently both industrial parks are near capacity. In addition, the city is actively developing a new city center known as The COR(Center of Ramsey). The development vision for this 400 acre area located in the heart of Ramsey is for it to become the region's center of retail,restaurants, service and office space,outdoor entertainment and parks,community amenities and housing. LONG-TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING The City of Ramsey prepares a five year capital improvement plan in an attempt to anticipate major capital expenditures in advance of the year in which they are budgeted. The City has a policy to maintain unrestricted General Fund balance in an amount equal to 50% of the following years adopted operating budget. This policy is designed to establish a fund balance at a level which is sufficient to avoid issuing debt to meet current operating needs. RELEVANT FINANCIAL POLICIES The City has a comprehensive set of financial policies that provide the basic framework for the overall fiscal management of the City. The City had no unusual occurrences affecting these policies. MAJOR INITIATIVES In 2015,the city(working with Anoka County,the project coordinator),began construction of the Highway 10/Armstrong Blvd interchange project which includes the construction of a grade-separated interchange for Armstrong Boulevard at Highway 10 and the BNSF rail lines. This project is a major step forward in improving emergency response times and traffic operations on Highway 10 and will be completed in 2016. 16