Tuesday, August 31, 2021 · 6:00 PM
Agenda
Not posted
What was on the agenda.
One-line summary
The Council held a 2022 budget work session focused on levy impacts, the sheriff contract, road and bond planning, fire and recycling funds, parks projects, and follow-up budget action items, then adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
2 items as recorded in the packet and minutes, each with a plain-English summary of what was at issue.
1Proposed 2022 Budget Discussion
Proposed 2022 Budget Discussion
The Council used the work session to review the proposed 2022 budget, compare 2021 actuals with 2022 projections, question major changes, and assign follow-up items on staffing, accounting, attorney fees, engineering, transfers, and revenues before the proposed budget deadline.
The Council discussed whether to budget the sheriff contract increase starting in January or July 2022 and identified that the sheriff contract budget needed to be adjusted from the lower amount to the higher amount because of extended service hours dedicated to Nowthen.
The Council discussed small city road funding, ongoing Ebony & Garnet and Rogers Lake Area road projects, possible bonding amounts, public works equipment to be handled through the bond, the capital repair budget line, street signs, and the MS4 pond and culvert cleanup needs.
The Council reviewed Fire Department reserve amounts for turnout gear and radios, asked staff to explain the Fire Management increase, and discussed recycling revenue, the enhancement grant, the new attendant building grant, and reimbursement limits under Anoka County's staffing metric.
The Council discussed park capital improvements, including pickleball, Memorial Park, disc golf, and beach improvements, and also discussed keeping council chamber improvements in the budget and looking for possible CDBG support.
The minutes record a budget workshop discussion and action items, but no motion approving the proposed 2022 budget.
2Adjourn
Adjourn
Rainville moved to adjourn, all were in favor, and the workshop adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Adjournment motion carried.
1 motion on the record. Split votes are highlighted.
M1MOTION BY RAINVILLE TO ADJOURN, ALL IN FAVOR. MOTION CARRIED.
moved by Rainville
ALL IN FAVOR
When someone referred back to earlier business, we found the matching prior discussion and tied it in here.
Blake asked about the Public Works heavy equipment that had been put on hold. Bond funds will cover those purchases, as well as Fire department purchases and road projects.
— Blake
What this is about
Blake asked about public works heavy equipment purchases that had previously been put on hold and how they would be covered.
The records searched contain only partial matches. The March 10, 2026 packet included a Public Works memo comparing brush cutter options and recommending the Virnig V50 cutter, but the excerpt does not show that the purchase had previously been put on hold, identify it as “heavy equipment,” or record a council vote or funding source. The other related records also do not confirm the recollection. The April 14, 2026 packet included Fire Department security/access-control equipment pricing, and the May 12, 2026 materials discussed Public Works road/culvert work and 2025 financial statements, but none of the search results show a prior formal decision that bond funds would cover the Public Works equipment, Fire Department purchases, and road projects.
Discussed the difficult adjustment moving from controlling the budget process themselves as a council to instead begin in 2018 to allow a financial accounting firm to help with the budget. Council likes the control.
What this is about
The discussion recalled the Council's 2018 shift from controlling the budget process itself to using a financial accounting firm.
The records searched do not contain a prior 2018 discussion or decision matching the recollection that Council shifted from handling the budget process itself to using a financial accounting firm. The closest related records are much later: the May 12, 2026 packet includes the City’s audit materials and budgetary control language, and the April 14, 2026 packet refers to a “consultant” who had overlooked posting a pension revenue and expenditure placeholder. Those records show outside financial/audit support was involved by 2026, but they do not document when that arrangement began or any 2018 Council decision about changing the budget process.
He said he didn't need the detail if it's been the same for the past 2-3 years or only around $1,000.
— Alders
What this is about
Alders asked not to spend staff time on budget lines that had been stable over the previous two to three years or changed only slightly.
The records show a related budget discussion at the September 14, 2023 City Council work session, when the council and staff reviewed the proposed 2024 General Fund budget line by line. The minutes list several specific items discussed, including moving the 2019A levy amount of $64,900 to later years, adding an overtime line to the report, reviewing zoning/subdivision revenue, estimating a 10% medical insurance increase, discontinuing Kim’s Kleaning, adding Planning and Zoning stipends, and increasing the Public Works tire line for grader tires estimated at $9,500. This appears to be only a partial match to Alders’ recollection. The records searched do not include a recorded statement that Alders asked staff not to spend time on budget lines that had been stable for two to three years or changed by only about $1,000, and no formal vote on that direction was recorded.
$75K Council chamber improvements was in the budget previously and should still be there.
What this is about
The Council recalled that council chamber improvements had appeared in a previous budget and should remain included.
The records I searched do not contain a prior budget item or Council decision matching the recollection of “$75K Council chamber improvements.” None of the returned results reference council chamber improvements, a $75,000 allocation for that purpose, or a vote to include or carry forward that item in a prior budget. The closest budget-related result is from the July 13, 2021 discussion included in the October 12, 2021 agenda packet, but that concerned delayed Fire Department well work and “budgeted funds,” not council chamber improvements.
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