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THE CITY AND ITS SERVICES (continued1 Ramsey incorporated as a City in 1974, and is organized as a Home Rule City under a City Charter originally adopted in 1984. The City Council consists of a Mayor and four Councilmembers, and is elected at large on a non- partisan basis. Elections are held in November of each even numbered year. The terms of office are two years for the Mayor and four years for Councilmembers, but not more than two Councilmembers' terms expire in any one year. The Council is responsible for enacting ordinances, resolutions, and regulations governing the City, and appointing the City Administrator, City Attorney, and members of the various advisory boards and commissions. 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. MAJOR INITIATIVES Since 1990, the City of Ramsey has been attempting to provide improved services to a dramatically increasing number of households in a time of fiscal constraints at the State level. It is estimated that Ramsey's population will have increased 32.1 percent between the 1990 census and January 1996. At the same time, aids from the State of Minnesota have increased at the lesser rate of 14.3 percent. The consumer price index, as one measure of the normal cost of doing business without any population growth, has increased in excess of 20 percent over the same period. As a result, the City has struggled to maintain and improve services while keeping property taxes at reasonable levels. The property tax rate between 1990 and 1996 has increased. In 1990, the local tax rate (City only) was 15.193 percent. In 1995, it was 19.418 and 1996 is projected to be 20.367 percent. While the tax rate is in fact higher than five years ago, the portion of the tax dollar paid to the City is still about 17¢ for every dollar collected. The other 83¢ is paid to Anoka County, the School District (either Anoka- Hennepin District #11 or Elk River District #728), and special taxing districts such as the Metropolitan Council. The year 1995 was characterized by continued construction activity but with a change in emphasis to commercial/industrial construction as the primary focus. Residential construction has continued but at a somewhat reduced pace from the last few years. The City Council, volunteer Commissions, and Municipal employees strive to provide services to the public at reasonable costs at the levels desired by the public. General Operations Ramsey has a long history of fiscal conservatism when it comes to the general operations of the City. Using the 1995 population estimate of 16,388 residents and 4,820 households, the City levied $89.51 per capita and $304.34 per household in taxes for 1995. The City's staffing level is similarly conservative at 2.69 full -time equivalent positions per thousand residents. All three of these measures are significantly below the average in the Metropolitan Area and below all but a few similar communities. Emphasis over the past four years has been placed on ensuring that this community is on firm financial footing. This goal has been addressed by diversification of its tax base evidenced by the growth of the commercial and industrial sectors of the City. The Council has also worked hard to ensure stability in the Public Improvement Revolving, Public Facilities Construction, and Park Improvement Revolving Funds. Fully capitalizing these funds ensures that programs such as park construction, equipment replacement, and street maintenance do not require tax dollars to support City efforts. In all three cases, City expenditures are supported from interest earnings from these funds within which the prinicipal balances are secure. 11