2019 CAFR - Laserfiche WebLink

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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 3.2% in comparison to the state average of 3.3%. Ramsey has an employed labor force of 15,290. Anoka County, in which Ramsey is located, has an employed labor force of 192,851 and an unemployment rate of 3.2%. There are approximately 7,020 detached single-family homes and 2,370 multifamily units located within the City. In addition, there were 125 single-family homes and 128 multifamily constructed in 2019. An apartment complex with 118 market -rate units and an assisted living and memory care facility with 33 units both began construction in the fall of 2019. The fall of 2019 saw the opening of the city's second elementary school — Brookside Elementary. The school serves approximately 800 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Affinity at Ramsey, a senior living facility with 173 units also opened its doors in the fall of 2019. The City has two major industrial districts containing multiple business parks with a combined capacity of 320 acres and 25 businesses. A 115-acre business park, west of Ainistrong Boulevard, began construction in 2017. The business park is estimated to generate about two million dollars in total annual property taxes and create about 3,000 jobs. Through 2019, approximately 400 new jobs have been created as a result of this business park. Delta Mod Tech, a manufacturing company, purchased 43 acres within the business park for the construction of an 185,000 square foot facility and for future expansion. This project alone is projected to cost almost twenty million dollars and generate $375,000 annually in property taxes. In addition, the city is actively developing a 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 ofretail, restaurants, service and office space, outdoor entertainment and parks, community amenities and housing. LONG-TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING The City of Ramsey prepares a ten-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. 16