Agenda - Council - 08/28/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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bladed a trail and is keeping it mowed so there is a path for the kids to cross the field. The trail was also plowed last winter. Ms. Geiss stated the Ramsey Rotary has been paying the utilities at the Neighborhood Center, the Ramsey Lions have given a donation to pay for the general operating expenses, and Ramsey Women of Today has donated programs and supplies. The Center is also working with Pact Charter School; the school does not offer any after school programs and the Center would like to offer their services as a resource. Councilmember Elvig stated a lot of the kids here are in challenged situations, but some kids in the program are fairly affluent too. He used to be a believer that this was a low income distressed family program, and as he learns more, it can go a lot further. That is part of the reason he endorses the scale of this. There can be a lot of different family situations that plug into this. Any time you can positively affect young people it is a good thing, and you are also plugging into the family. Ms. Geiss stated ideally a program is a good balance of kids from all economic ranges and ethnic diversity so the kids can grow and learn. Ideally it would never get weighed down too much on either side. They have high school kid at the Center who would have never spoken to each other, and now they are kind of buddies at the Neighborhood Center. Hopefully this will carryon into school. Interim City Administrator Nelson stated this is a most tremendous display of collaboration and cooperation among the School District, service organizations in this area, and the community organizations such as Rotary Women of Today and Ramsey Lions Club. It is not easy to convince people to try something new, but she thinks they are making an in-road. A two year renewal of the lease with Youth First is on the agenda of the City Council meeting tonight. They have tried to test the concerns that were expressed and they have something good started here. The kids at this Center are wonderfully bilingual. It is a good group of kids and she thinks they are making a good investment. Ms. Nelson stated she would also like to continue this discussion as they talk about the use of Charitable Gambling funds. She has been working with Ms. Geiss to establish a proposal to utilize some of the Charitable Gambling funds towards the Center, which serves the Ramsey Residents. She stated she would be happy to facilitate a visit to the Center for interested members ofthe Council. 2) 2008 Budget Finance Officer Lund stated the County numbers have been revised, resulting in a 5.7% increase in taxable value in the amount of $20,259,199. The tax capacity rate presented at the July 31, 2007 work session was at 39.39%. Due to the revision in the County numbers the rate is now at 38.7126%. In order to keep the 2008 tax capacity rate the same as the 2007 rate, $150,000 could be added back into the budget from what was discussed at the July 31, 2007 work session. Staff would like direction on whether Council would like the tax capacity rate to remain at the 2007 rate, lower the tax capacity rate, or approve a rate somewhere in between. Options would be to add back options or line items that have been cut or to decrease the transfer amount from the Equipment Revolving Fund. City Council Work Session / August 14, 2007 Page 4 of7