[0:00] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: [Music] Good evening. We will call this meeting to order for the December 14th, 2023 Apple Valley City Council meeting. [0:48] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: I'd like to welcome everyone. If you have an item on the agenda, as that comes forward, please approach the podium and when your name is called we'll let you address the council. The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. I ask everyone to rise and join us in the pledge. [Pledge of Allegiance] [1:15] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Thank you everyone. We have the next item, which is to approve the agenda. And Tom, I know we had an additional item this evening to add. [1:33] Tom Lawell (City Administrator): Mr. Mayor, members of the council, good evening. Yes, we have one item that we circulated to the council here earlier this week. This would be item 4X. This is to approve consent to an amended and restated easement and maintenance agreement for Eagle Point Apple Valley and Eagle Point Apple Valley Second Edition. As that development continues with the second edition, we make certain that the easements and the maintenance agreements apply to all of those properties, so that's why this item is being added tonight. [2:05] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Great, thank you Tom. With that change, do we have a motion to approve the agenda as amended? [Motion and second occur] [2:15] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Have a motion from Councilmember Grendahl and a second from Councilmember Bergman. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? That item carries. The next item is our audience participation portion of the meeting. This is for items not on the agenda. We did have a signup sheet in the back. Bryce Wickstrom, I believe—Bryce, did I say that correctly? [2:40] Bryce Wickstrom: Close enough. [2:42] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Well, feel free to correct me if you need to. So Bryce, come on up. We've got a total of 10 minutes for this item, so I don't think you'll need it that long but... [2:50] Bryce Wickstrom: I certainly hope not. Good evening, honorable members, Mr. Mayor. My name is Bryce Wickstrom. I and one of my co-workers, Matt Sherber—hey Matt, if you want a better picture, feel free to sneak back up here and get a little better one if you want. We are field representatives with AFSCME Council 5. AFSCME Council 5 is a union of 43,000 workers who advocate for excellence and service, for dignity in the workplace, and an opportunity in prosperity for all workers. [3:25] Bryce Wickstrom: We're here tonight on behalf of the 53 hardworking members of AFSCME Local 479, City of Apple Valley. We represent employees in Public Works, Utility, Street, Fleet, Building Maintenance, and Parks and Recreation, who play a vital role in the prosperity and vibrancy of your community. These workers truly make Apple Valley function as an exceptional place to live. We appreciate the opportunity to bring to your attention three matters of significant concern to our members and, by extension, the well-being of your community. Local 479 members are present tonight to share the following concerns and seek your understanding and support as we navigate these issues in preparation for ongoing contract negotiation with mediation scheduled in January. [4:15] Bryce Wickstrom: My first point this evening is regarding the escalating cost of healthcare. Health insurance is a vital component of our members' lives, ensuring access to necessary medical care and promoting a healthier, more productive workplace. However, the increasing costliness of health insurance is placing an undue strain on the financial resources of your workforce. Individuals with family plans are especially vulnerable to this financial challenge. We have been working in a committee with both Police and Human Resources to decipher a plan for the future, but the issue is affecting employees daily at this moment. We seek your intervention into the upcoming health insurance cycle, also understanding the complex nature of the budgetary decisions and the need for responsible financial management. We urge you to consider the well-being of your workforce and examine potential avenues for mitigating the rising cost of health insurance. Your support in this matter will not only contribute to the financial stability of our members but will also foster a healthier and more resilient community. [5:45] Bryce Wickstrom: Secondly, I would like to address the issue of a flexible yet fixed work schedule. Currently, Union employees have a long-standing normal work week of 40 hours, Monday through Friday. This year, the multi-season shift change was enacted, requiring employees to work 10 consecutive days including weekends. We recognize the value and importance of workplace flexibility; however, the current practice of a shift change is creating significant disruptions in the lives of your workers. The newly implemented shift changes within the Parks Department, including the requirement for weekend shifts, pose a substantial challenge for your employees. Exploiting the contract language in this manner was not the original intent of this article and has created a burden amongst affected employees as well as hesitancy by employees that other departments will experience similar hardship. This scheduled flux makes it difficult for employees to maintain a work-life balance. We understand the need for adaptability, but the current approach is adversely affecting the well-being and the job satisfaction of our members. In light of this, we strongly advocate for the implementation of a set schedule for workers. This not only provides much-needed stability in the lives of our members but also promotes a healthier work-life balance. Additionally, we propose fair compensation for those hours that fall outside the agreed-upon schedule. This adjustment is not only essential for the work-life balance of our members but is also crucial for maintaining a motivated and productive workforce while preventing worker burnout. [7:30] Bryce Wickstrom: Finally, I would like to touch on employee retention and wages. In this post-pandemic culture with prevalent economic inflation, the employees who daily respond to the needs of keeping Apple Valley a great place to live, grow, and recreate are feeling the burden. The results of recent wage comparisons among 20-plus local communities showed Apple Valley, while being a nationally recognized top-tier community, is on the low end of the wage scale even compared to smaller cities nearby. During negotiations, it was reported by management that the council was in favor of, and I quote, "creating a competitive place of employment." Due to the ongoing struggles of retaining and recruiting employees with a positive outlook, it was much to our dismay when we were met with unyielding offers from management that were nothing more than the same or similar as past negotiations. In an attempt to move forward with negotiations while showing compromise, the union accepted a tentative agreement on the standard wage increase with the belief that management would work with us on the work schedule language. As you may be aware, mediation has been scheduled for January regarding a discussion over the work schedules among other items. Our concern is about the lack of member support for a contract while the issues of wages and retention are being undervalued. Your employees are simply seeking a wage increase that brings us up to par with other cities and/or language that keeps our normal scheduled work shifts to what they have always been. [9:30] Bryce Wickstrom: We request your support in addressing this matter as it is fundamental to the overall satisfaction and stability of your workforce. We believe that a defined work schedule will not only benefit our employees but will also contribute positively to the success and sustainability of your community. These three issues are the focus of the upcoming contract mediation in January. By proactively addressing concerns and finding common ground, we aim to build a foundation for a stronger partnership. Your engaged understanding and support in resolving these matters are crucial to achieving a mutually beneficial outcome during the mediation process. We appreciate your commitment to open dialogue and look forward to working together for the betterment of your community. I thank you. [10:18] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Thank you, Bryce. We appreciate the comments. We don’t do a lot of comments on these but I just—we’re working through this as you guys know, right? The tough balance of trying to figure out how to do the right thing for all the people and take care of the budget and the total numbers all at once. I appreciate the comments, but more than that, I appreciate the work. I think last winter, if anything, told us kind of what that work level is. We know it’s there. The expectation of all the things just working is really easy to overlook because all the things just work, right? We only know they don’t work when they don’t work, and so we appreciate all you do. We’re working on this one. I appreciate you coming. [11:00] Bryce Wickstrom: It's coming quick. [11:02] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Yeah, it’s going to come quick, that’s what we’re afraid of. Winter’s coming, but then so is all the regular day-to-day stuff. We are a 24/7 operation, as you all know, because you’ve got to take care of it whenever it happens; we can’t wait till Monday through Friday all the time. [11:15] Bryce Wickstrom: These are the faces of your employees. [11:18] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Absolutely they are. We appreciate you guys coming. As we move on to the rest of the meeting, feel free to stay if you want to stay, but don't feel obligated to stay just because the meeting's going on. So if you’ve got to get home to families and that kind of thing, absolutely feel free to scoot, but feel free to hang around as well—we’ve got the budget and those kind of things coming up. So thanks for being here, guys, and thanks for all you do. We appreciate it. [11:48] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Before I move on, I'll give everybody just a minute to move out if they would like, otherwise stick around. [12:14] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: All right, next item on our agenda is the consent agenda. These are considered routine and will be enacted with a single motion unless a councilmember or a citizen requests to pull an item. Councilmembers, any items you would like to pull? Anyone in the audience? All right, seeing none, we'll take a motion to approve the consent agenda. [12:35] Councilmember Tom Melander: So moved. [12:36] Councilmember Lisa Hiebert: Second. [12:38] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Motion from Councilmember Melander, a second from Councilmember Hiebert. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? That item carries. We'll move on to the regular agenda starting with item 5A, which is our 2024 proposed budget and property tax levy. Ron has this item. We have a Truth and Taxation budget meeting and then adoption of a resolution. [13:05] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): All right, thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. Got all loaded up here as Tom gets settled. [13:12] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Just... I've had a preview of this presentation. I'd just like to ask we let Ron kind of work his way through the presentation because I think a lot of the questions I had looking early on were answered when we got to the end. I did speak with somebody on the phone today asking for directions and stuff, so I don’t see that they made it in attendance, but... [13:35] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): So with that, we'll start off. As the Mayor mentioned, this is our 2024 budget and property tax levy public input meeting—Truth in Taxation meeting—this evening. The purpose of the meeting tonight is to present the proposed budget to the public, receive public comment, and then following that, adopt a budget and levy for the coming year if the City Council chooses. There is a backup date, the next City Council meeting which would be on the 28th, if we don't complete it this evening. We'll cover some of the changes since the preliminary budget and levy were adopted in September. And then again, the purpose of the meeting this evening is not to address market values of any individual properties. Market value determination is part of the County's spring process. If you do have questions about your market value and property classification, we encourage you to connect with the County Assessor's office in Hastings; it's 651-438-4200. [14:40] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): The agenda this evening: we'll talk about the changes since the preliminary levy and budget was adopted in September. We'll go over an overview of the budget, valuation increases, valuation process, the statements of the estimated taxes that everybody received a couple weeks ago, the tax impacts, the tax levy, and what's driving the tax levy increases. Then we'll look at some comparisons to other cities in addition to the Consumer Price Index over time. Then there are some changes coming for taxes payable in 2025 related to the homestead credit, so we'll kind of preview a little bit of that. [15:30] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): The budget climate: the economic outlook continues to improve and the likelihood of a recession seems to be declining. Interest rates have risen, but as recently as today, it's sounding like it may be at its peak, potentially even cuts in the coming year. Inflation continues to impact all areas of the economy. The CPI is moderating, but it's still running at 3.2% as of October of '23 compared to 7.7% in October of '22. There's a delay in how we can adapt and modify our budget; for example, we are setting a 2024 budget and levy, but we won't know what the inflation is for 2024 until well into '24 or even into '25. Households, businesses, as well as local governments including ourselves have been impacted by the inflation over the past few years. The current unemployment rate is favorable at 3.2%, and the state budget has announced last—a couple weeks ago—the state is projecting a budget surplus of 2.3 billion for the 2024 to '25 biennium. They're also looking out the next biennium after that, '26 to '27, at a $2.3 billion deficit. What they've identified is a structurally unbalanced budget for the coming biennium, leaving a budget balance at the end of the '26-'27 biennium of just 82 million. Of course, that's four years from now, so it'll be hard to know exactly what that will be, but likely there will be no change for Apple Valley in Aid, whether it's local government aid or any other aids. We do have some projects potentially in the bonding bill; whether that's impacted or not, we won't know. Overall, residential property values are rising 3.7%—that's overall the whole property class. The overall commercial property is experiencing a 10.6% overall increase, and the new commercial valuation for new construction accounts for 2.1% of that increase, and the average appreciation on commercial properties is the remainder, 8.5%. [18:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We start with the budget process. It's a lengthy process. We begin each spring with the annual goal-setting session with Council which sets the goals for the coming year. At that time, we typically receive preliminary valuations from the county and we can prepare an estimate of the tax impact to the median value home based on what we know. We do a two-year budget, so we start with that because we somewhat have an idea what that will be and then any known... say, for example, if there's going to be debt issued. We just passed a referendum, so we know there'll be some of that for 2025. But when we present that in the spring, that kind of becomes the target of what we need to keep the budget within, and that is how we start off the process in the spring. The staff then takes that information and the goals for the coming year and they will prepare a two-year budget that addresses those goals and other operational needs. This past year, the City Council discussed the budget at their informal work session in August and again adopted the preliminary budget and levy in September. The county uses that preliminary budget and levy that we adopt in September to create the estimate of tax impacts that were mailed out to individual property owners a couple weeks ago in November. That brings us to this evening where the City Council would consider the property tax levy and adopting the budget for the coming year. [20:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Some of the updates since the September preliminary: we did receive some updated tax capacity amounts which has impacted moderately—slightly—the tax rate and will result in an increase in the taxes on the median value home. The adjustment in the tax capacity was a drop of approximately 215,000, which increases the tax rate from 36.67% to 36.77%, which does result in an increase of $3.50 on the median value home for the coming year. The one thing to point out—we talk about the drop in the tax capacity—is the values the county will be adjusting all through the process and it really isn't until spring of 2024 that the numbers will become final. [20:55] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Some of the changes in the budget document for this coming two-year period is a change in the Emerald Ash Borer replacement program and changes related to the opioid settlement. We do have a new fund and we'll talk about how that has impacted the budget. We also broke out Public Works Administration and Natural Resources—they used to be budgeted together—we split those into two separate business unit program budgets. The Emerald Ash Borer program: our existing practice has been to remove and replace diseased boulevard trees as funding is available either through levy or grants. We're currently spending around $1,600 to $1,900 a tree. We have approximately 1,050 boulevard and park diseased trees that need to be removed. When we were out with Night to Unite, I think everybody received a lot of questions about "hey, what about all these trees?" The budget for the coming year proposes addressing those 1,050 trees in the next two-year period. If we would have relied on past practice, it would have taken a number of years to address those. The removal cost is somewhere between $1,200 and $1,500. The one change would be instead of the City replacing the boulevard tree, this would be done by encouraging the homeowner to replace the tree via rebate. If they plant a tree, they would get a rebate. Earlier we discussed a $200 rebate—that hasn't been finalized—but if they replace the boulevard tree with another tree that is not in the boulevard, so we don't have the continuing issue with boulevard trees. The one advantage of doing it this way is the homeowner themselves become a stakeholder in that tree; we feel that they might take better care of the tree and it would be a successful program. [23:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): The opioid settlement: Apple Valley, through the opioid settlements with all the drug manufacturers, will receive $1,119,000 over the next 18 years. There is a requirement of what the expenses can be used for, and then it's also required to have a separate fund, which we do have a separate budget for. It's currently being used to fund the Drug Task Force agent investigation and enforcement as well as a portion of the Community Impact Unit connecting community members to appropriate resources. I mentioned splitting out the Public Works and Natural Resources budget; the idea is to be a little more transparent, especially on the natural resource portion of the budget and what commitment is taking for managing that program. [23:55] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We did note that across the total budget for the whole city, we have a number of funds. One thing we want to point out is the city is a service provider, so a large portion of our budget—probably 34% or 33.6 million—is just the wages and benefits of the employees. This includes all of our funds, including our Enterprise funds. We'll see that items for resale, for example, 9% of the total Citywide budget or 8.8 million, most of that is related to the liquor store operations. We do have capital outlay—we have a number of funds with significant capital outlay—27% to 28% of the whole budget or approximately 27.1 million is just for capital outlay and depreciation. All other operating costs from supplies to fuel to contractual services make up the remainder, 17.9 million dollars or approximately 18% of the total Citywide budget. [25:30] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): On the expenditure side, we do have the General Fund which is typically thought of when people think about General Government—Police, Fire, Administration, City Clerk, Streets, Public Works, Park Maintenance. That’s approximately 44% of the total budget or 43,169,000 for the coming year. The Enterprise funds, which is Water, Sewer, Liquor Store, Stormwater, Cemetery, Ice Arena, make up the other 40% of the budget or 39.2 million. The Road Fund, which is a significant program each year—the annual Street and pavement reconstruction program—the total budget for just the ongoing road portion is 7.4 million, approximately 7%. Then all the other funds make up the remainder, 8.5 million. [26:40] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): If we flip it around and look at the revenues: user and franchise fees—this includes the Enterprise funds—is 36.2 million or approximately 40% of the total revenue. That is the sales at the liquor store, the Water and Sewer fund, the Stormwater fund. The second biggest portion is 36%, which is the property tax levy. We do receive intergovernmental revenue for police and fire, but most of this 4.5 million is related to municipal state aid for streets. Licenses and permits include building permits and business licenses. We are contemplating debt issuance of 2 million in the Enterprise fund for the storm water utility as well as transfers and administrative fees between the Enterprise funds and the General Government of 11 million. [28:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): One of the purposes of this evening's meeting is to talk about property taxes; again, that's 32.5 million of the total budget. Most of that property tax support goes to supporting General Government operations. Property taxes make up 75.5% of the General Fund budget. We have other licenses and fees, but portions of those go into the General Fund: park and rec fees, rentals, franchise fees, and then transfers from the Enterprise funds into the general government at 6.3%. [29:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We look at the expenditure side. Again, 43,169,000 is the total General Fund budget. The revenues do equal the expenses; we do adopt a balanced budget each year. 64% of the budget, or 27.6 million dollars, is personal services—the employees. Commodities and contractual services make up 21%. Capital outlay, within the General Fund, is the charges that get sent to the vehicle and equipment replacement funds. Then the transfer to the Road Improvement Fund is 4,360,000. That is the property tax levy support of the annual street replacement program. We do not levy for special assessments, so a significant portion of that program is funded by property taxes. In addition to that, 545,000 is a transfer into our municipal building facilities funds. [30:30] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Kind of a breakdown of the median value home: the annual bill for 2024 is $1,366. This gives you a breakdown of where those dollars go. If a program budget has revenues that fully cover expenses, it will not appear in here—one example would be building inspections; their revenues meet or exceed their expenses. Police makes up the largest share of the General Government budget—$418 of the annual property tax bill would go to support police operations. Park and Rec is $183. Public Works is $166. The street maintenance program I mentioned equates to $153 per year for the median value home. It isn't that the homeowners aren't paying anything; it's how they pay. Instead of levying special assessments infrequently at a very large amount, it's a smaller amount that continues each year. [31:50] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We talk about the property valuations. It is a two-year process to establish the valuation. The county needs to determine a value as of January 1st of 2023 for the taxes payable in 2024. That includes the assessor review in 2022. In March of 2023, the county sent out to each property owner a property valuation notice. Hopefully everybody looks for those because that starts the valuation process at the county level. March through June is the appeal period. In June of '23, the county holds their Board of Equalization hearing. In November of '23, a few weeks ago, they sent those values to prepare the parcel-specific notices for the 2024 taxes. There is a lag between the property's selling price and the assessor's assigned value. Property values may have gone down since January 1st, 2023, but because the county must assign a value as of that date, any reductions since that time are not reflected. [33:55] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Overall property values have increased for the coming year 4.87%, from 7.6 billion dollars in the prior year to 8 billion 71 million. Most of the valuation addition for new construction is in the apartment property classification, like the Roars apartment building. Commercial and industrial is up 10.6% and residential is up 3.7%. The differences between the increases will result in a tax shift. Because commercial went up more than residential, that will shift a portion of the property tax burden to the commercial class. Last year, this was reversed and there was a shift from commercial to residential. This shifts back and forth every year. [36:50] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): New construction generated 3,336,000 in taxes. The total levy is going up more than that, so that results in an increase for everyone's tax bills. The median value home increased 2.8% for the coming year up to $362,000. Fortunately, that's moderating compared to last year. [40:10] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Regarding the statements of estimated property taxes: they've been delivered. Each notice includes contact information for each jurisdiction. Step one is where people check their property classification—make sure it says residential homesteaded. It also includes the taxable market value. As the property increases in valuation, the homestead exclusion amount is reduced; for every dollar it's increased, the homestead exclusion will be reduced 9%. This generated quite a few calls this year. The exclusion is 40% of the market value up to 76,000 and then it's reduced until it phases out at 413,800. For the coming year, the city portion of that median value home tax bill is 33.5%, the county is 16.1%, and the school district is 47.5%. [44:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): For the property tax levy components: General Fund is the largest recipient at 27.5 million, an increase of 2,061,000 or about 8%. The street maintenance program is 4,360,000, an increase of 9.8%. These are the levy support of the infrastructure replacement program. Voter-approved debt service is the levy for the park bonds issued back in 2007, '08, and 2012. All other debt for the coming year is for the fire station and central maintenance facility (CMF) project. Total increase for the coming year is 2,075,000 or 8.44%. [45:50] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): What is driving that 8.44% increase? Capital outlay, road fund increases, and voter-approved debt service. Also inflationary impacts, which includes wages and benefits of 1,315,000. There are levy-supported positions included in the coming year's budget for 53,000. We also had to factor in that cable franchise fees have been dropping each year, a reduction of 93,000 that we have to make up in property tax levy. [47:08] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We do a number of comparisons. Apple Valley’s increase is 8.4%. On the low end is Maple Grove and Coon Rapids at 6.7% and 6.8%, and on the high end is Rosemount, Lakeville, and Bloomington. We are just to the high side of the midpoint of comparable cities. The median value home impact is 7.24%, or $926 a year (approximately $76.80 a month). [53:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Another comparison we do: if we assume 2005 is the base year and apply the Consumer Price Index to that amount each year, we can see that the taxes on the median value home are following the Consumer Price Index. We are also comparing taxes to other cities. In Edina, the median value home pays $2,126 in city taxes. Apple Valley is $1,366. We're in the middle of the pack there. Our levy includes support of the road infrastructure program, which is not the case in all other communities. [58:30] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We have some other comparisons. According to the state auditor, in 2021, Apple Valley had the lowest total expenditures per capita at $768 compared to St. Louis Park at $1,628. This will change as we issued bonds for the fire station and CMF building, but we ranked number one in low expenditures in both 2020 and 2021. [59:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): New staffing positions for 2024: a maintenance trainee program shared within parks, water, and sewer; a new police sergeant funded with state public safety aid; intern positions in IT; and a mechanic in recreation. [59:53] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Enterprise funds: Water and Sanitary Sewer rates are going up 5%. Stormwater is going up 15% related to capital outlay needs for the Southwest area. Streetlight utility is going up 10%. In total, for a typical user, the increase is 6.7% or about $12.44 per quarter. [1:01:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): We've received 11 Truth and Taxation calls so far. Concerns include valuation, loss of homestead market value exclusion, and tying the budget to CPI. One individual wanted a copy of the budget but didn't want to read 400 pages. One was about the park referendum levy not being included—we have not issued that debt yet, so there wouldn't be a levy for that until 2025 at the earliest. We also direct people to the county for homestead status and address updates. [1:02:58] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): There are property tax refund programs. For 2022, there was a household income maximum of 128,000 with a maximum refund of 3,140. There is a special property tax refund if your net property tax increased by more than 6% (this was lowered from 12%). There is also a senior citizens property tax deferment and a disabled veteran property exclusion of 150,000 or 300,000 depending on status. [1:07:30] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Changes are coming to the homestead market value exclusion for taxes payable in 2025. The maximum threshold is raised from 76,000 to 95,000, and it will phase out at 517,000 instead of 413,800. This will result in additional people receiving the exclusion and a reduction of approximately $20 on the median value home for 2025. [1:10:00] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): To summarize: the property tax levy continues the goal to not specially assess for streets. Residential property taxes on the median value home will rise about 7.2%, from $1,273 to $1,366. With that, the City Council is asked to conduct the Truth and Taxation meeting, ask for public comment, and then consider adopting the resolution. [1:11:32] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Thank you, Ron. We'll start with Council—are there questions or comments for Ron? We've seen this multiple times. If there are no questions from Ron, we will go ahead and open the Truth and Taxation budget meeting. Any comments from the public? Final opportunity on public comments. If there are no comments or questions, we would look for a motion to adopt the resolution approving the 2024 City budget and property tax levy. [1:12:00] Councilmember Ruth Grendahl: So moved. [1:12:01] Councilmember John Bergman: Second. [1:12:02] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Motion from Councilmember Grendahl and a second from Councilmember Bergman. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? That one carries. Thank you to staff everyone for the work on the budget; this is a lot of work to get here. Next item is to adopt a resolution authorizing the transfer from the Liquor Fund for 2023. Ron, it looks like you are up once again. [1:12:35] Ron Hedberg (Finance Director): Shorter presentation on some slides... much shorter. Each year the City Council is asked to approve the transfers—these are budgeted transfers. For the coming year, there would be a transfer of 850,000 from the Liquor Fund: 700,000 going to the General Fund and 150,000 going to the Valleywood Improvement fund. The total transferred to the General Government is 1,092,000. This is a significant resource generated by the liquor operations. [1:13:54] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: All right, any questions for Ron on the Liquor Fund transfer? If not, we would take a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing the transfer. [1:14:15] Councilmember Tom Melander: So moved. [1:14:16] Councilmember Lisa Hiebert: Second. [1:14:18] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Motion from Councilmember Melander, a second from Councilmember Hiebert. All in favor indicate by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? [1:14:35] Councilmember Ruth Grendahl: I'm opposing. I'm sorry, I went too quickly there. [1:14:38] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: That passes 4 to 1 then. Thank you, Ruth. And then we have item 5C, which is the fee schedule, and Pam has this item. [1:14:50] Pam (City Staff): Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. Staff is requesting the City Council hold a public hearing and consider adopting a resolution approving the City's 2024 fee schedule. Section 3527 of the City Code authorizes the City Council to set fees via a resolution, and this process also requires a public hearing. In the draft version, amendments are listed in red. Generally, the proposed rates more accurately reflect the costs associated or are a result of increased fees being charged to the city. The CPI for last year was 3.7%. Construction-related items were increased 3.7% in accordance with CPI. Water and sanitary sewer fees increased 5%, storm drainage increased 15%, and streetlight utility increased 10%. Inspection, license, and permit fees were revised to cover hourly cost plus overhead. Proper notice was placed in the official newspaper. There are two items before the council: to hold a public hearing and then adoption of the resolution. [1:16:57] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Thanks, Pam. Do we have any questions on the fee schedule? Seeing none, we will open the public hearing on the fee schedule. Anyone who would like to speak to this item? Anyone who would like to speak to the fee schedule? Final opportunity. We'll close the public hearing and look for a motion to adopt the fee schedule. [1:17:25] Councilmember Lisa Hiebert: So moved. [1:17:26] Councilmember John Bergman: Second. [1:17:28] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Motion from Councilmember Hiebert, a second from Councilmember Bergman. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? That item carries. We'll move on to staff and Council Communications. Anything on your end, Tom? [1:17:43] Tom Lawell (City Administrator): Mr. Mayor, just to mention that we are looking for election judges for 2024. Pam has made it very clear this is something that we should be talking about because the first election in 2024 is actually on March 5th—the Presidential Nomination Primary. 2024 is going to have three different elections and we could use some additional help. You do get paid to be an election judge and we will train you. You would be joining a great team that Pam, our City Clerk, puts together. Information is available on the city's website. [1:18:30] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Thanks, Tom. And probably worth mentioning, it was on consent a few weeks ago—we have historically used Greenleaf as an election polling place, but with school security and some hassles with kids in the building, that had become problematic. I want to thank Pam for hunting down a new polling place in a very tight timeframe so we could not disrupt the district activities. Thank you for that. Anything from Council? Nothing. [1:19:00] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: All right, we'll move on to the calendar of upcoming events. Our next regular City Council meeting is Thursday, December 28th at 7:00 p.m. We would take a motion to approve the upcoming calendar. [1:19:08] Councilmember Ruth Grendahl: Motion. [1:19:10] Councilmember Lisa Hiebert: Second. [1:19:12] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? That carries. And then we take a motion to adjourn. [1:19:16] Councilmember John Bergman: Second. [1:19:18] Councilmember Tom Melander: Second. [1:19:20] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: All in favor? I don't have... do we have a closed session this evening? [1:19:30] Tom Lawell (City Administrator): There's one on the screen that John saw, but it's just a carryover from a slide. [1:19:40] Mayor Clint Hooppaw: Okay, sorry. No, there is no closed session on my official agenda. I think that's just on the slides. Don't confuse me, it's been a long day! All right, we are adjourned. Thank you, thanks. [1:19:59] [Music]