Agenda - Council - 06/09/2026 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The City provides a variety of municipal services. These include a full-time police department, a volunteer fire depai intent, 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 function as they see fit. Transfers between functions, however, need special approval from the City Council. LOCAL ECONOMY The City has an unemployment rate of 4.3% in comparison to the state average of 4.3%. Ramsey has an employed labor force of 15,863. Anoka County, in which Ramsey is located, has an employed labor force of 207,107 and an unemployment rate of 4.1%. The median household income is $116,415. There are approximately 10,726 housing units in the City. The median home value is $388,141. In addition, there were 179 new single-family homes and 50 multi -family housing units with a valuation of $71.6 million constructed in 2025. The new 133-unit Skyline Apartment on Sunwood opened in the fall of 2025. The apartment complex includes 12,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor. T Sharp hair salon is the first lessee and will be opening in the spring of 2026. A few of the other housing projects that were authorized in 2025 include Riverstone 6' addition with 14 single family homes, Rivenwick Village 4' addition with 27 townhomes, Brookside Terrace with 6 single family homes and O'Shaughnessy 31d addition with 4 single family homes. Six hundred and twenty-six businesses call Ramsey home; those businesses employ nearly 7,534 people. Six new commercial permits were issued in 2025 with a permit valuation of $18.6 million. Some of the commercial projects completed in 2025 were Complete Auto Service, H2O Innovation USA, MKP Motors, True North Outdoor Services, HHH Pediatric Therapy, Lightbridge Academy Day Care, Blue Lagoon Hot Tubs, Beeline Plumbing and Zero Zone expansion. The City also saw new hospitality/entertainment development with the addition of SUR by Vita Bella Restaurant, Taco Bell (the 100th store in Minnesota). King Baguette, Home 2 Suites by Hilton, and In the Game Pickleball and Golf. A Chipolte restaurant is set to open in the spring of 2026. The City has three major industrial districts containing multiple business parks with a combined capacity of over 500 acres and 70 industrial/office buildings. Bunker Lake Industrial Park, the newest 115-acre business park, west of Armstrong Boulevard, opened in 2018 and now has 984,000 square feet of industrial buildings constructed and has over 50 acres left for development. Upon completion, this business park is estimated to generate around three million dollars in annual property taxes and create about 1,500 jobs. 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 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 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 unassigned General Fund balance in an amount equal to 50% of the following years adopted operating budget, plus prior year encumbrances (if any). This policy is designed to establish a fund balance at a level which is sufficient to avoid issuing debt to meet current operating needs. 16