Agenda - Council - 09/12/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember LeTourneau stated that there is potential that there is consensus that this is something that the City may want to do in the future and asked the input of staff on when they would feel this would be appropriate to pursue further. Human Resources Manager Lasher stated that in the next few years there will be more employees retiring and it would help to implement the system prior to that as the positions will be infilled with younger employees and it would assist with the conversion to have this in place before those people are hired. City Administrator Ulrich noted that the University of Minnesota resilient communities program could look at the benefits and assist in some of the staff work. 2.02: 2018 Budget and Levy Review City Administrator Ulrich provided an introduction to the discussion noting that Finance Director Lund has prepared some answers to the questions that were asked at the last worksession meeting and also has additional information for the Council to review. Finance Director Lund reviewed the staff report. Councilmember LeTourneau referenced scenario four, which offers the opportunity to bring as many positions online as the Council desires with the highest level of offering to the community and the reality is that in return it will cost each one of the resident homes an additional $110 compared to last year. Finance Director Lund confirmed that would be an increase to the City's portion of the property taxes. Councilmember Kuzma stated that while there is not a big difference between scenarios one and four, he cautioned that the Council should be careful on their choices. Mayor Strommen stated that a huge driver of the budget is the personnel requests. She stated that there are also road debt issues and there is a question of whether the Council wants to leave space to levy the dollars that might be needed for road projects. She stated that the Council will need to weigh the needs of personnel versus other items that will need room in the levy and the budget. Councilmember LeTourneau stated that he is trying to have a conversation about the tension that he is feeling about the growth in the community and the stress and pressure that is putting on staff. He stated that perhaps scenario four takes some pressure off staff to be able to react appropriately with flexibility to the massive amount of growth the community is experiencing. Councilmember Johns stated that she is attempting to relate the decision to the goals of the Strategic Plan. She questioned what would not be done with scenario two compared to scenario four. City Council Work Session / August 22, 2017 Page 3 of 9