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^ GENERAL OPERATIONS Ramsey has a long history of fiscal conservatism when it comes to the general operations of the City. Using the 1999 population estimate of 19,000 residents and 5,700. households, the City levied $131.55 per capita and $438.30 per household in taxes for 1999 (this amount is net of HACA). The City's staffing level is similarly conservative at 2.92 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. ' One way the City maintains a low staff to-citizen ratio is to use temporary part-time employees, volunteers and contract services. In order to attract and maintain qualified employees, the City has adopted a ' compensation policy with the goal of paying salaries at the median of market rates. City employees are represented by two labor unions and benefit packages are negotiated through them. The City is committed to continuous improvement of customer service. Investments in technology make it easier and faster to retrieve information and respond to citizen requests. That investment is reinforced by employee training. A recent review revealed that 85% of the City's regular employees received some type of training during 1999. About 1.5% of the City's 1999 operating budget was earmarked for training. 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 principal balances are secure. ' Emphasis has also been placed on ensuring that, where possible, those parties receiving a unique benefit from City services cover the cost of that benefit. As a result, all staff time spent on development activities is billed to the development rather than being supported by the taxpayers. Also, as a result, the City began direct ' billing for recycling services in 1995, so that those not receiving the service (the business community) are not put in a position of providing funding for a service not available to them. Likewise, the Council put in place, during 1995, a street light program that resulted in placement of priority intersection lighting in 1995 and 1996. Benefitted properties are billed directly, which reduces costs to persons who would otherwise have to pay for the service. if the expense was covered by tax dollars. The City, in an effort to take advantage of existing systems and services provided by local companies, has entered into an agreement for use of its utility billing system with a local company (Connexus Energy). Their existing billing application allows them to bill for City utilities. This program allows the City the ' .opportunity to not invest in additional equipment and personnel that would duplicate a service that is currently being provided in the private sector. Connexus Energy sees benefit by a fuller utilization of their in-house billing system. The City continues to look for ways such as this to operate in a more efficient ^ manner. At the same time, .the City is constantly looking for ways to keep organizational operating costs down. Technology improvements have been a major focus with a complete computer upgrade. Maintenance ' operations have also been improved by utilization of equipment built to reduce the time necessary to conduct tasks such as turf maintenance and the use of preventive maintenance programs offered through Connexus ' Energy. Our staffing, mentioned earlier, does not include large complements ofpeople for emergency events such as large snowfalls. Rather, the City has a number of people "on-call" who are available should the need arise, but are not on the payroll for the remainder. of the year. ^ -vi-