Agenda - Council Work Session - 10/03/2006

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Department Forecasts 11 5. Department Forecasts In this section, we will examine the City departments individually, analyzing the effects of continuing growth on each department, and the corresponding challenges that accompany such growth. Although not an officially stated policy, the City of Ramsey provides high quality service and responsive customer service to its residents and businesses. With this in mind, the staffing levels recommended are intended to continue this approach, with the caveat that continuing to meet high service demands with good response times may require moderate tax increases. As a first step, creating a vision for the future, including a discussion of desired service levels needs to take place. Conclusions from those sessions may modify the recommendations below. General Government The chart shown on the following page illustrates the total expenditures and staffing numbers for General Government functions, as projected for the 50,000 -population scenario. Operating Structure One issue that the City will face as it grows in size and complexity is the structure it uses to govern in general, and in particular, the process it uses to make decisions. Currently, the City operates with a City Administrator in a statutory Plan A form of government. This form provides for day to day management of the operations via a chief administrator, but reserves key decisions regarding hiring, contracts and various operations to the City Council. Many, if not most, small communities have this type of governance structure. When decisions are few and the complexity of the decisions is limited, this approach works well. As the scope of city operations expands, the dependence on Councilmembers or Council Committees for administrative decisions can become problematic. The need for quick decisions and the availability of Councilmembers for increasingly numerous meetings are two of the most frequent problems encountered. Many cities address these issues either by changing the structure or changing the authority granted to the City Administrator. In most cities over 50,000 population, the city operates with a structure that provides the Chief Administrator full authority over operations, including hiring and contract approval up to a certain size. This must be accomplished in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, either by amending the City's Charter or by opting to operate as a Statutory Plan B city, commonly called the "City Manager" form. Ramsey will certainly confront these issues; in fact, there has been some discussion about this already. It would be wise to continue these discussions and set.forth a plan so that any change can coincide with other organizational City of Ramsey — Organization Study and Review