Minutes - Council Work Session - 03/27/2007

Home

Mayor Gamec stated they should look individually at what they want done by consultants and be certain there is a return for the costs. He suggested a list of priorities should be prepared on the key projects. COUncilmember Elvig stated it is important to keep The Tinklenberg Group on some sort of retainer and have the ability to include them in situations such as the joint Highway 47 meeting that was just held where they can add to the conversation about how to collectively get to the table. Mayor Gamec noted the need to ensure that there are not overlaps in costs associated with the Highway 10 Coalition meetings. Interim City Administrator Nelson indicated if Council Contingency Funds are earmarked for consulting costs the City will be able to utilize their services when needed. Department heads are all in tune with tracking the consultant costs and monitoring how they are used. The next City Council meeting will include an item on the Consent Agenda requesting authorization from the Council Contingency Fund for the purpose of consulting at a not to exceed amount. 2) Utility Billing Finance Officer Lund reviewed that currently the City of Ramsey contracts with Connexus Energy to handle its billing and collection services related to utility billing. The City has outsourced its billing to Connexus Energy since about 1994 and currently pays approximately $56,000 per year for their services. Ms. Lund stated with a growing customer base, the move to a larger facility and previous waterlsewer billing errors, the City is looking at the prospect of bringing utility billing back in-house. Ms. Lund provided an overview of the utility billing evaluation with estimated direct costs of in-house billing. Estimated costs include total one-time costs of $91,902 and total annual costs of $131,606. She stated approximately three years ago the unbilled utility accounts error made by Connexus' billing equaled almost $700,000. She advised bringing the billing in-house could also improve customer support. Currently customers that call Connexus are told to contact the City; however, she then needs to tell the customers to contact Connexus as they hold the account information. Finance Officer Lund indicated the set up costs involved with bringing the billing in-house would be supported by the enterprise funds and would not include general fund dollars. In the future they would look into direct payments which would ensure payment for the quarterly utility bills. Councilmember Strommen asked if there is currently enough being collected in utility fees to pay for the annual costs or if a rate increase will be needed. Finance Officer Lund indicated the water and sewer account can support the annual costs~ but the recycling account may require a slight increase and will need to be worked out. A major factor will be the type of control box that is utilized on the homes. Some cities are going to meters that allow a reading by calling up the building, but this. is approximately $1,000 per meter. City Council Work Session I March 27, 2007 Page 3 or 5