[0:38] [music] [0:59] Hey, [1:07] hey, hey. >> [music] [1:51] [music] [music] [2:07] [music] >> See, [2:21] [music] [2:26] that's it. [2:41] >> [music] >> Well, that's a good evening and welcome to our regular city council meeting for Tuesday, December 2nd. Please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. [2:57] >> [snorts] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [3:14] >> Welcome everyone. Apologize for my voice. Um trying to catch over a little cold, so I will be drinking water tonight. All righty. Are there any additions or corrections to the agenda? [3:30] >> No, sir. >> Seeing none, I'll move the agenda. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. We have an agenda. This evening, we have no presentations, proclamations, or acknowledgements. [3:45] Uh double checking, we do not have any responses to the public comment this evening. And our first item up tonight is the public comment. anyone wishing to speak to council on an item not on the agenda this evening. Uh we do have two public hearings later on for the street improvement project and our budget and we'll take comments then for those items. Anything else? You may come forward to the podium. State your name, address, and your question or comment for council. The podium's open. [4:24] All right, seeing no one making a move towards the podium, we'll consider that public comment is closed. We'll move on to our consent agenda for this evening. Uh we have items A through K. The first is bill listings, minutes of November 18th, 2025 regular meeting minutes. The setting of the meeting schedule for 2026 accepting a resignation of an employee. [4:50] the 2026 schedule of rates and fees relate to rental licensings, subdivisions, uh cell tower rentals, uh water sanitary, storm fees. We also have our 2026 27 tobacco licenses at 12 locations, the 2026 liquor license renewals at 15 locations, donation acceptance for Heroes and Helpers. Um it was I believe this past weekend um our police and fire were out receiving donations for begging groceries. Um that was over $3,300 plus a donation by the American Legion that'll be used for uh work uh shopping I guess with 27 kids [5:37] in the community. We have a joint powers agreement with Dakota County for the restoration of the Mcmmin woods, authorization of creation of the firefighter administrative specialist position, and approving the cooperative construction agreement with Met Council Environmental Services. [5:55] Council, is there anyone wishing to pull any item for further discussion? All right, seeing none, I do have a statement regarding our uh one consent item uh 6D regarding a resignation of an employee. Um typically this happens um council actions required in this case. [6:17] Uh this item uh [clears throat] is known out in the community. This is in regards to the resignation of our former police chief, Michael Dalstrom. I'd like to clarify that this action being taken tonight is is accepting the terms of the separation agreement and financial severance related to the chief's resignation. It's widely known that the city received several complaints via an employee engagement survey. We understand that our community is highly aware of this situation and I want to assure you that our our city council here takes this issue very seriously. We trust our staff and their leadership on this matter. Supporting a culture of high performance is a core pillar of our strategic plan. Morale, teamwork, and [7:05] personal accountability are just as essential to our mission as the results that we deliver. That being said, we appreciate the leadership shown by Mr. Martin, his team, interim Chief Thomas, and the men men and women of the Rosemont Police Department during the past couple of months. We are confident in our public safety teams and look forward to a strong future in Rosemount. [7:34] And with that, would anyone like to move the consent agenda for approval? >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion by Tyson, second by Freski. Roll, please. >> Climple. I Weisenell >> I >> Tyson >> I >> Presky >> I >> consent agenda passes items 6 A through K40. [7:55] >> That completes our consent agenda. We'll move on to item seven, public hearings. The first up is our public improvement hearing for the 2026 street improvement project. I will look towards our city engineer. [8:10] Uh thank you Mr. Mayor and members of the council. I am back again um as part of uh our street improvement project. There are a couple council members who were here last time. Unfortunately, we needed a super majority for this to uh for this uh motion to pass. So, I'll start it out with a brief presentation. Um realizing that two of the council members here this evening haven't seen it yet. It is posted on the project web page as well. [8:42] So anybody um from the public can look at it if they haven't seen it at this point in time. So uh with that I will jump right into it. Again improvement hearing is part of the the 429 statute. It's um required to uh to be able to assess a portion of the street work for this project and it's an opportunity for the public to comment on the project scope and planned work. I will note that there is a separate assessment hearing which will address the costs and those assessments for the property owners at that time and that's planned right now for March 17th um after we uh open the uh the contract. So, and again as I note at the bottom there ultimately the goal [9:28] is a resolution ordering the project. Um just a quick note on the project area. It's the southern portion of the city just north of uh County Highway 46 and between Shannon Parkway and Chippendale with a couple of streets just to the west of Chippendale. [9:47] Um pretty standard uh scope for the project, mostly surface street type work. Um pavement reclamation, which uh I will note that we do have a link to a video on the website. So, um, anybody who's really interested and wants to see the equipment, uh, and not have to be outside by it, you can certainly look at that. Um, there's some, uh, ADA repairs for the sidewalks. Um, some minor utility, uh, work and then we have a couple of alternate items that will not be assessed. They are they're separate enough that we'll be able to to pull those costs out. One of those is repaving the lift station at the corner of Shannon and 160th Street or Highway 46. And then we're also looking to repave the trail through JC Park. [10:35] Again, I'll note that's uh it's pavement reclamation spot curb and gutter and then uh the sidewalk repairs and then upgrading any of the ped ramps. So, pretty standard. We've been doing uh similar projects over the years since I've been here. [10:52] Uh, no surprise with construction what to expect. So, large equipment, noise, dust, mud, um, you know, possible traffic delays. I will uh mention for the record that these this will be done under traffic. So, it's not going to be days that you wouldn't be able to get into your driveway or get down the road. [11:14] It's more like hours as they're working through the through that area. Um, and generally they will leave it at the end of the day in a drivable condition. Uh, here's the uh two two tables that I know are generally of interest to almost everybody. One is the project costs at about uh 2 million um just a little over that and then project funding. I'll note the special assessments right now are estimated um just under $600,000 total. [11:43] And I have a a slide that'll touch base on that just a second here. So, um, as I mentioned, the assessment hearing is planned right now for March 17th. The final assessment is based on the contract bid cost. Um, and then we take 35% of the street [laughter] improvement cost the and then divide that by the number of properties along the the project corridor. So, each assessment for each parcel is the same. [12:12] Um, the assessment term is a 10-year term. So that means uh residents are it it if you allow it to go to your property taxes, it's paid off for over a 10-year period. Um and again, I do want to note that this is not uh incl does not include those alternate scope items that I mentioned. So and then our preliminary estimated assessments are somewhere between three and $4,000 per parcel. [12:43] And again, just very similar to the first map that I showed. This just shows those parcels that are being assessed. And then here's [clears throat] the project schedule. As you can see, we're uh we're right there on in the November 18th uh line item with the public hearing. And we we'll be on track um with with the slight delay that we've had. We have we'll have no problem getting to the bid opening time frame at this point. So, and then just a note uh again project contacts. So, Bolton and Mink um is our project engineer on this and of course there's uh contacts there and we do have a city website uh for this project. As we get into construction, we'll do more [13:28] regular uh weekly updates so that residents can see what's happening in their on their street. And with that, that concludes my presentation and any questions from councel. I will do my best to answer. >> Door's open to council. Any questions? [13:44] No. >> Okay. Seeing none at that time, we will move to the public hearing. Again, anyone wishing to speak to council on this may do so at this time, please state your name and address and your questions or comments for staff. [14:03] Floor is open. [14:13] And is there anyone coming forward? Anyone? All right. Seeing no one at this time, I'll move to close the public hearing. [14:29] >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Have a motion and second on the floor. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> Our >> public hearing is closed. Move back to council. Any follow-up questions? Seeing none, uh, would someone like to move the recommended action? I'll move to adopt a resolution ordering the 2026 street improvement project city project 2026-01 and authorizing final preparation of plans and specifications and authorizing the advertisement for bids. [15:02] >> Second. >> I have a motion by climple second by Tyson. Roll please. >> Weisenol >> I. >> Tyson >> I >> Climple I. That passes 40. We've adopted the resolution ordering the 2026 street improvement project. Completing 7A, we'll move on to 7B this evening, establishing our 2026 budget levy and CIP. [15:34] Mr. Martin. [clears throat] Wonderful. Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. Uh, excited to be here tonight. as I say every year as we kind of wrap up uh one of the b biggest tasks that city council city staff does uh together on an annual basis and that is our 2026 budget and levy and the establishment of all the items that that trickle down there below. So excited to talk through this tonight, respond to any questions that you may have or the the community may have. Uh but once again, staff is excited to be in front of you with a budget that both reflects the city's growth and is respectful of the taxpayer dollar [laughter] while still ensuring that we meet the needs of of our growing and and evolving community. Uh we always start with some headlines from this budget, right? So we have yet another record year of growth in the city's value of new construction. [16:17] Folks that live here certainly know that that we've got a lot of construction happening in Rosemount. Last year we set a record at 177 million in the value of new construction. This year that number was 253 million. And so what you'll see is that second headline there is the city's tax capacity value increasing by 11.56%. [16:36] We'll talk about as we go through the presentation how that has saved the taxpayer money and has helped def fray tax increases that could have occurred to accomplish what we're doing inside this budget. [snorts] And ultimately the headline of this budget and what what this budget accomplishes is a is a major focus on the city's commitment to public safety as we expand the fire department, as we continue to commit uh to resources in the police department. this budget is reflective of the city's commitment on public safety in a in a large way and that's a response to our growing community which which they demand. Um so that number that I talked about that 11.56% what that did was saved pre-existing homeowners $81 on their taxes. And so that means if you live in a median valued home which is that third bullet there that that the median valued home this year is is valued at $421,950 [17:22] about a 7.05% increase from last year. So, if you live in a $420,000 home, your tax increase this year is $137. It would have been $218 had the city's new construction not occurred. That's a nuance number. We talk about it every year. Uh your home may be $420,000, but if it was 420 last year and it didn't go up that 7%, then you don't see that $137 increase. And so it gets into the weeds a bit, but if you have a $420,000 home increasing by 7% in value, that's where that 137 comes from. [17:58] Folks that saw a flat valuation, maybe even a decreased valuation or a smaller increase, maybe your home went up $10,000, your 137 $137 is not is not likely your number. Then of course, if you're in a more expensive home than that or or a less expensive home than that, your number isn't isn't the same either. But we always select that median valued home to give a benchmark. Uh just to also give a little flag in the ground, uh the amount of money that was saved in 2023 based on new construction was $32. So for us to to protect taxpayers from an additional $81 of of what that increase could have been um is a wonderful reflection of what that growth in in in new tax in new construction really can do for for a homeowner. [18:39] Uh quick diving into the highle numbers in the budget. Uh the operating budget is showing a 9.86% 86% increase of of just about $2 million, $1.99 million. That operating budget is funded via an 8.2% increase in the tax levy and then a 5% issue uh debt levy increase as we've talked about for the past few years. And so, as a reminder to the community, we're in the four-year roll out of our debt service payments on the police and public works campus. And so, that's a 5% increase every year for 5 years. Um, we'll have that 5% in 26 and then in 27 and then we'll be done with that increase and that cost of of our debt service on the public works and police campus will be enveloped in the overall city budget and you won't see that 5%. [19:24] So that 8.2 + 5 gets you that 13.2% levy increase number which again is a big number. That's a bigger number than we've done in the past, but we're able to accomplish that number with a with a modest impact on the taxpayer because of those numbers that I was just talking about with new construction and new valuation growth. [19:43] So, as I mentioned down there below that operation, the city's operation um on that median valued home, which also experiences a 7% increase if you're in that kind of a home, that city operation is going up by $87. That that public works and police campus number is again $50. And so that's where we get that $137 number for your increase to your city taxes in 2026. [20:07] Reminder, council's been through this uh how we how we go and how we work through this every year. Hard to believe here we are in December. We'll start doing the 2027 budget in just about February, March as we start getting numbers from the county on preliminary increases for um the the city's taxable value. As we start to to chew on those and see those, we then work with the department head team um to to submit budget requests internally. Uh and then admin services director Malikica and I meet with each department head to discuss the requests. [20:34] You know, do some some red lines and some some edits as it before it even gets to the city council to try to bring you the most conservative budget that we can each year. And this absolutely was again a year where your department head team is is seeing things left on the table. So, just want residents to know that it's a the 13% 8% operating growth. [20:52] That's a that's a big number. If you're running a small business, understand that just so they know, we still have, you know, folks on the department head team that didn't get everything that they asked for and and and that's good. That's a sign of a good budget, but want to let folks know that uh that that is a reality inside the this budget that not everything uh can always be a yes and and our team certainly knows that. [21:13] Uh this just takes us back looking a bit back to 2020 on where we've gone on both the annual levy and annual budget. We've been averaging 7.64% of an increase on the annual levy over those last seven years. Um and then an annual budget increase of about 7.17% as we've been in this period of really rapid growth in the city of Rosemount. [21:33] Tax capacity. Well, how can we do that? How can we grow the budget with those numbers that I just showed is because we've been averaging almost a 10% growth each year in our the city's tax capacity. And so council direction in the past has been how can we have a levy and a budget that lives inside the means of our tax capacity growth. And so by seeing those averages in that 7% and then the growth is averaging in that 10% we're trying to live within those means of how much the city is growing as we respond to the overall changes that that Rosemont's currently currently undergoing. [22:02] This is kind of our home run slide here that uh if if the newspaper was here, I wish they would take a photo of, but this is our city tax comparison of of what you would do if you dropped that median valued home in every city in Dakota County. So, if you own a home that's $420,000, this is what you would pay for taxes in South St. Paul, West St. Paul, Hastings, Mota Heights, etc. [22:23] So, we are in second place this year, losing out only to our good friends in Lakeville um for the lowest amount of the city taxes that anybody in Dakota County is paying. So even inside of that 13% number, we're still able to stay in that second position. And again, to go straight to the top, and not to criticize our friends in West St. Paul, but the exact same home in Rosemount pays about $1,700 more in city taxes in West St. Paul than they do in the city of Rosemount. And so, um, just the ability that we have and our friends in West St. Paul maybe don't have quite so much to be in a growing community with a with a diversified tax base. Um, so again, uh, whereas, you know, add in the district $196, that $421,000 home is paying about $4,500. That same home in West St. Paul is paying 6,200. So, um, it's these are real numbers. These are [23:10] big numbers. We understand that, but really proud of the way that we stack up to our partners and and uh, and and what we do end up talking about as, you know, kind of that why development and how does development help the overall tax picture. This is that home run slide that shows you that we can hire two firefighters and two more police officers and and do all the things we need to do and still stay in that second position thanks to the growth that we're seeing in the community. [23:34] So now we'll dive through like we do each year on the on on each budget um and and talk through any questions council may have. Please obviously stop me. You guys have seen this about 15 times and so I understand you don't maybe have a million questions but want to keep going through it. uh just for uh the final due diligence here for our truth and taxation hearing. We have no changes proposed in the city council budget for 2026. We continue to operate under the model where um in 2024 I think was the first budget that we went back and and reallocated some city council costs to show some flattening of that. We went back in this chart a few years, but we've reallocated costs that aren't directly city council costs over into the admin services budget. So, city council budget stays pretty flat and that's reflective of the city council's direction. So, the admin services budget is made up of of divisions and how we're [24:20] kind of operating inside of our new financial services. Software is is uh kind of utilizing some divisions. And so, inside of admin services, we've got HR communications administration finance, and general government are the the budgets and the subcategories that council is used to seeing. So, again, some things slid around and moved around in here. Ultimately, this budget is showing about a 9.9% increase. Some things to flag. Obviously, when I flag these in the budgets going forward, this is not all-encompassing of every budget change. Um, but what you'll see in admin services, 2026 is an election year. And so, we we we bump down and up every year as we do elections. And so, next year, we've got a ramp up for for election judges and and this and the the wages that we pay those folks along with software costs. and then our county JPA partnership where the county is managing [25:06] absentee ballots for us which we very much appreciate. Big ticket items inside this budget and this should have been probably part of my headline slide too is software. So this is a public safety budget and it's a software budget. We've got a number of software changes that city council has supported us to do and admin services is leading the charge on on so many of those as we really kind of revolutionize how we how we budget, how we do accounts payable, accounts receivable, etc. So, uh, what you what you see there in that second line is some of the softwares that we're able to acquire inside this budget, um, to really again try to work smarter with the staff that we have, not always come back and ask for adding staff, but instead come back and add add software and things of that nature. So, both in finance and then we've got an HR software programmed as well that'll help support us in onboarding of new [25:52] employees, open enrollment each year to make that way paperless and and and a lot quicker. And then we do have some um ADA requirements to to uh roll out by the end of I believe the end of 2026 to make the website more ADA accessible. And so we've got to go ahead and do that on the city's website. Uh so again, this shows that big spike there. That's because we grabbed so many of those city council budget items uh there in 2024 or 2023 um and and move forward on that. So um moving ahead to community development um big ticket items in community development for next year. We're in the first year of a two-year work with a consultant to work on the city's 2050 comprehensive plan. And so every 10 years, we work with our partners at the Metropolitan Council to kind of cast out [26:37] the development vision. What could Rosemount look like in 2050, not only from a utility um standpoint that the Met Council cares about, but also that development pattern and what our development land use map could look like and how that drives our utility needs um for the Met Council to prepare to have a sewer system that can handle how Rose may grow. And so it's a it's a not only that nuance, it also helps us cast a vision on economic development, competitiveness, and sustainability and a whole bunch of other uh facets of the work that we do. And so, as the city council knows, the comp plan is really our bible of operations. And so to do a new one for 2050 um is a big undertaking. And so that's why you see that that that uh that line item here. [27:17] Again, on software, we've got a building permit software. Being one of the fastest growing cities in Minnesota, we have a building permit software that is unsupported by any tech support any longer and is is really a dinosaur um in the in the world. We're making it work. We've bandated it together, but we we can't trust that it will even operate much longer. And so, we've got a permit software uh looking to come here in 2026. And then based on council direction, we have continued to um contract out with a third party to assist us with code enforcement. And so, uh, some of the work here is just as we grow in our community and and the amount of households we have increases, inherently, the amount of code enforcement complaints that we have from some of our neighbors and maybe some folks that are first-time home buyers that don't have the same property maintenance standards that you may have as a as a as a long-term homeowner. Um, [28:02] we get increasing amounts of code enforcement complaints. And so, uh, we've got a three member inspection team that are running very very busy and they just do not have the capacity to do code enforcement. So that's been a a wonderful assistance for us and we look to continue utilizing a third party to assist us with code enforcement. [28:20] Community community development budgets been averaging about a 7.12% average annual growth. Uh and a pretty steady increase there as we uh reflect our growth. Police department every year uh is our is our biggest budget continues to be our biggest budget. Um this year has about an 8.15% uh increase. It's our biggest budget because it's where most of our employ the largest amount of employees sit in in our in our police department and it certainly is one of the most critical things that the city does. Um, so a few things to highlight here in our police department. First, we've got some increased training qu costs and our South Metro SWAT partners uh continue to have some increased dues as we grow our staff. Our postboard training standards increase um as we add more officers and so just align it there to increase that. [29:04] Our partnership with Dakota County 911 is our dispatch center driven by the amount of calls that our police and fire department go on. And so we pay a a per call aggregated fee averaged over a couple of years to our partners at Dakota 911. And so that that cost is going up a bit as is our partnership to the electronic crimes unit, the domestic preparedness community uh committee and then some of our internal wellness initiatives as we continue to focus on officer wellness. Two hires here shown in the police department. First on this slide is a full a new full-time police officer looking to start in about 20 September of 26. And so that's why you don't see a full ticket of their wages here. You see a partial year of their wages. That's what we've done in the past um to help us defay some budget costs. And so in the 27 budget, you [29:50] know, you'll see the full impact of that new police officer. We've got some folks um that are in our ICO program and some of our CSO programs that would be uh aligning well with a potential hire in September of 2026. And so looking forward to that. And then we also show a promotion of a patrol sergeant. So this is typically plucked from our our patrol uh officer unit where they could get a a career advancement opportunity to become a patrol sergeant. And so that's an opportunity in the police department for next year. Um that again continues to follow um the overall department vision of having 247 supervision on all patrol shifts as we as we ensure that we can do that. So, growing that that sergeant base and and certainly we've got some some looking to do as to as to how the kind of the police administration needs to look here going forward. But an [30:35] opportunity there to uh to work towards a patrol sergeant. Police department budget showing that step up there over recent years averaging 8.75% annual growth. Fire department uh is our largest numeric increase there and and part of our uh one of our largest growth items as well. And we've talked about this quite a bit with the city council and hopefully the community has heard us talk about this in a variety of settings as well that the city is exploring what the future service model and the fire service model needs to look like. We've engaged in a consultant to help us analyze what um the fire service makeup needs to look like here in the city as we're growing. You we're running 1,200 calls or so in in a given year with an all volunteer paid on call fire department. You know, with Chief Springer being our first full-time [31:21] employee. And so we know that that that fire staffing model study is going to tell us to hire full-time employees um and also do some of the work that's in this budget. And so we're excited to see that the council supported us um to get this done right away. And so the two positions that you see here, one would be labeled something what would be labeled a a deputy fire marshal position. So inside of community development, we have a fire marshal right now that would be unchanged. This would be an employee in the fire department that could assist with fire investigation, expanding our fire education outreach, and then our fire inspections outreach, which we we we do, but we can't do to the extent that we would like to at this point. And so, a deputy fire marshall can come alongside the fire marshal that we have and and assist him in those capacities that he just needs assistance on. Both of these [32:06] people, both the fire mar the deputy fire marshal and the fire administrative specialist are are daytime responders. So these folks would be at the fire station from 8:00 to 4:30 just like every other one of your employees and would respond to a fire call that happens from 8:00 to 4:30. Um, so what that does then is give us Chief Springer, depending on his meeting, you know, situation and then these two folks to respond to daytime calls to come alongside our paid on call crew, which is which is what we know the city gate study is going to tell us to do along with what we're seeing on the next slide here [snorts] is to show some duty crew staffing abilities at both of our fire stations. And so [snorts] for folks that aren't familiar with that, a duty crew is is just like what it sounds like with the with the folks on the slide before. [32:49] These are folks working at the fire station ready to respond to calls at our most strategic times. And so Chief has worked with his leadership team to begin to craft out what a schedule would look like when we have both the most fire calls coming in and the most difficulty in getting our volunteer firefighters to respond. And so think about if your volunteer firefighters that we all know are maybe working 8 to five jobs in Minneapolis, they can't come to that noon, you know, kitchen fire that happens here in Rosemount. So, how do we have folks that are staffed at a station ready to go to that noon time call where at 8:00 p.m. we have less of a challenge to respond to those calls because the guys and gals are home from their full-time jobs and ready to respond to a fire call. So, strategically selected uh schedule blocks of time where a a duty crew is staffed at the fire stations to [33:36] respond to calls. And so, a big ticket item there. We're looking forward to experimenting that and trying with that um and seeing how that goes. Uh and then as we continue to grow and expand uh and and add those folks, we've got some additional vehicles that are needed to to support those people and then also continuing to upgrade the tools that we have in our in our fire department to professionalize our fire service. And then they're also looking at some software uh enhancements in the fire department as well. One of those is Lexiple that you've heard us talk about in the police department that that monitors state policies and helps us really stay on top of state policies and best practices. The other one you've heard about in the police department is guardian tracking, which is our performance management tool that allows rotating shift supervisors to provide feedback on the performance of the folks that maybe not are aren't always seen by [34:21] other supervisors and that's been a really nice tool for us. So here's the fire department kind of a a a you know one of our more interesting bar charts I suppose to take a peek at and what we've always been predicting right is that we've had a wonderful affordable arrangement in our fire department for many many years and that those days are changing for us. what this does too, not to get too far into the weeds, but um you've heard folks that that that watch the the kind of municipal media maybe more directly, you've heard of the word safer grant that folks can get grants to fund firefighters. And so by the city investing this deeply in their fire department, you're setting yourself up for a more successful grant application to the federal government in the future by showing your commitment to funding your fire department. And so we're kind of stepping out ahead of that and then preparing for that grant application um [35:07] as more full-time firefighters could potentially be needed. Public works department uh covers the divisions of government buildings, fleet, streets, and park maintenance um across all three uh showing a 4% increase across those budgets. And so a very flat budget here and and certainly uh something to to to to be aware of. Um as we add more buildings, we've increased our janitorial and contracted services needs. Um, and so that's just an item there to to flag. Um, our plowing operations continue to grow and see some abilities to enhance the software utilized as we track and monitor plow operations. We've got some additional CDL lensures um, as our department has changed over and expanded some of its abilities there. And then this is where our fees live for some of our programs that we use to to monitor [35:52] our fleet and facilities. And that's Cardigraph as one of our main tools there uh, that we utilize. Uh we've got an increase to our motor fuels and small tools. It's a line item in that often does increase um as we as the fleet size grows and our operations and and and equipment needs and we've added a mechanic and things of that nature. And we do have a bit of because of that second or third mechanic that we've been able to to add and some capacity there. We do have some reduction in the overall contracted vehicle and equipment repair line items. [36:21] So good to see that there. Uh across all four bar charts there averaging that 3.89% 8 9%. And so again, a lot of budgets in there to show that we've been uh a pretty flat budget um and and steady increases. Uh modest increases, I should say, would be a good word. Parks and Rex, last budget to take a peek at 3.23% increase. Um pretty flat here beyond, you know, those are just uh the increases that you see and the things that I'm not flagging and I should have said that maybe here at the top. um what's baked inside this budget and what we talk about every year is the biggest thing the city does is people, right? [36:57] We're in the business of people. And so our cost of living increases are baked inside of all these budgets. Our health insurance increases are inside these budgets that you talked that you read about in the in the memo that we wrote. And so when we only cover a couple of things, the the the remainder of a lot of these increases is certainly cost of living increases for our wages to remain competitive as an employer. So, uh, we're seeing some reduced utility costs, most notably in the ice rink, um, as we replace an aging chiller that can operate a bit more effectively. [37:27] So, there's the historical look back on park and wreck, averaging about 4% annual growth. So, another uh, pretty modest budget increase over the course of some history here. Those were all the budgets we wanted to talk about. in your packet was some of the insurance conversation that we had um because your insurance budget is part of what um statutoily you're talking about tonight. The CIP we've talked about a little bit at city council work sessions and and can do some more of that at an upcoming work session as needed. Um and the port authority budget was in there as well as we chatted about a little bit with community development. [37:58] So, um that's kind of it in a quick nutshell. Mayor and council, um I can answer questions. Miss Malica can answer any questions that I likely can't answer. Uh, and I should say publicly, uh, huge shout out. I I'm the mouthpiece for this. This is Tia lives inside this budget. Um, this is her heavy heavy heavy lift. Um, the the redo, some of the visualizations you've seen are not just visually cooler. It's a that's a software behind the scenes that has really uh changed so much of what we can do. And so, huge shout out to Tia um, and her team, but but Tia uh, for what she's been able to do inside this this budget and make this so simple every year for us. So, um, happy to answer questions. Otherwise, you can open your truth and taxation public hearing. [38:40] >> Thank you, Mr. Martin. Open it up to councel. Any questions, comments? >> Seeing none at this time. Um, >> I will just echo that. I love the grand slam slide. I took a picture. I think >> good. We like it >> is as I think we all kind of struggle as we go through the budget process seeing these high percentages and we're like, "Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness." [snorts] But to see that we're the second lowest is huge. So >> yeah. Good. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. [39:10] [snorts] >> All righty. With that, then we'll move to the truth and taxation hearing. Uh this is a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak before council may do so at this time. Again, as stated earlier, please state your name, address, and your comment or question for staff and council. [39:32] The podium is open. [39:43] We appreciate having residents actually coming up and speaking. [laughter] >> Cheryl, um I live in the Bloomfield Quads area and been here over 20 years. Um so my question on the valuation of the taxes is when are we going to see a windfall from all the commercial businesses coming in? I mean if there's that data center I would expect it to be higher than 11% for the increase in valuation to support everything we need to do. Um, I'm kind of surprised how low that is and then it gets kicked out with the 9% in the budget increase. So, when are we going [40:31] to see any windfall from that or the other businesses that we have in our our area, the warehouses that have come in, those people make a lot of money. And I know when that issue came up with the data center, my I was advocating, hey, we got to get taxes out of these people, you know, because we're going to have to support the infrastructure. So why isn't that valuation higher? [40:56] >> Okay, >> that would be >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Do we have an answer for our resident? [41:12] >> Yeah, I just I don't want to take the mic away from anybody else. Um, probably would it's it's a very good question and one that we feel quite a bit too as we kind of you know work towards the budget with the city council and you know kind of [laughter] try to bring a number to you all that we're confident uh to bring and not and not you know too uh to too leery to lead with. Um it it's it's an interesting kind of nuance conversation about how we both assess properties in the state of Minnesota and then the timing at which we assess the properties in the state of Minnesota. So maybe there's two answers that I might give you. Um first Minnesota for a pro and a con of our ability to kind of uh recruit businesses. We don't care what occurs inside of a building. And so, um, as a data center gets built or a distribution [41:57] center gets built, my joke is always that it could be filled with styrofoam peanuts and and the and the the county wouldn't assess it any differently, right? So, they worry about what it could be used as, but ultimately like, you know, the they worry about the building. They they assign a value to the building based on its construction type and where it's located. It's connected to utilities and things of that nature. And then comparable sales in a zoning classification that's of that similar type. They don't care so much that it might be filled with hundreds of millions of dollars of of computer servers. So you could hear words like an $800 million data center or a billion dollar data center. And those are big big words. When we look to see what those buildings could be valued at, they're a number of of hundreds of millions less than that because the [42:43] county doesn't worry too much that it's filled with computer servers. it could be filled with scaffolding and cardboard boxes that that are of far less value than computer servers. And so that's a good thing for the state of Minnesota in so far as folks that build data centers in Iowa or Arizona or California where they they value them differently. They they as a business owner, they run a tax projection and say, "Oh my goodness, it's fairly cheap to operate in Minnesota." But then that also means that your municipal government is probably leaving some money. And it's not our choice, but the state of Minnesota is leaving some money on the line by not valuing it like a billion dollar data center. The other thing that's really interesting, you we of course know that the building's not complete yet. And so um the building isn't isn't on the full tax roles quite yet. Um and then when it is, it is [43:30] retroactively valued. And so take your home for example, for us to give you a proposed valuation notice, the county to give you a valuation notice in February or March, I think of 2026, let's say, the one that you're about to get this winter. That's them looking at your value in 2024 to notify you about it in 2025 so it's applicable in 2026. And so there's that lag that we always talk about. So if the data center opens in 2027, which we expect it to be open and operation operatable, you know, kind of uh late 26, they value it. They value it along the way as construction goes, but it's not fully online until 27 and then they got to they have to inspect it, value it, [44:16] give the business an ability to appeal its valuation just like a homeowner has the ability to appeal its valuation. So, a nuanced answer to say that it does take some time to feel that impact. Um, but we do see it here in in the slide that I just pulled up. I mean, 253 million in new construction is by far the largest the city of Rosemont has ever had. Um, 11.56% in valuation is is much is a high high number. I do not know all of our competitors numbers, but I can assure you that the reason why we're number two on this slide is because of the 1156 and and Lakeville's number one because their valuation increases close to or maybe a bit more than ours. But this again is the is the reason why um I think you could feel like you're starting to see the impact [45:03] of the city's growth is reflected in the fact that we can have that number two ranking. Um, in previous years we've done this budget this [clears throat] this slide every year. I know we've been in the fours and fives and sixes in my memory. Two is the lowest that I ever remember. I know we've never been number one in my this is my 10th budget here. [45:21] We've never been number one. So we the reason why you're sitting at 1500 and West Paul is at 3,200 is because of that growth that we've seen in the community. So um it doesn't make your tax increase zero. That's why we talk about, you know, it does protect you, so to speak, from that, you know, that $81. And so to do this exact same budget with no growth, we would be standing in front of you with a $218 median value home increase. And instead, we're standing here with a 137. So long answer to that explanation, but um we feel it too and and uh and and and get that question a lot. And so hopefully that makes a little bit of sense. [46:01] >> Hopefully that answered that. Is there anyone else wishing to come before council? Anyone else? Anyone? With seeing no one approaching, I'll move to close the truth and taxation hearing. Is there a second? [46:21] >> Second. >> I have a motion and second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. >> Opposed. Our truth and taxation hearing is completed. Any questions or follow-ups with Mr. Logan? [46:37] No, >> Mr. Martin. >> I would just I would just add that I appreciate your the nuance and the detail of all of this, but you know, as as we've become so close and familiar with this, it's it's important to hear that that this is all these things are delayed and the the benefits are there. [46:53] It's just hard to see when we're we're still a growing community and we're adding new police department for safety. we were adding new fire department from full from, you know, volunteer to full-time. Those are all those tough decisions. So, it's it's great that we're still sitting at number two considering all that growth and development within our infrastructure and then hopefully some of that that building and commercialization that is happening will help in the future years as well. So, thank you. [47:20] >> Any other comments? All right. Would someone like to move the recommended action on the multiple budgets? I'll make a motion to approve the 2026 general fund operating budget, the 2026 CIP budgets, the 2026 insurance budget, the 2026 port authority operating levy, and the 2026 levy required by the city of Rosemont. [47:48] >> Second. >> Have a motion by Freski, second by Tyson. Roll, please. >> Tyson, >> I. >> Resky I. >> Climple >> I. Wisen cell >> I >> recommended motion passes [snorts] 4. We have our budgets for 2026 and that completes item 7B. [48:10] We have this evening no unfinished business. Number eight, we have no new business under number nine. We'll move to announcements. City staff updates. Mr. Martin. >> Uh mayor and council. Uh, I didn't prep him for this, but he just he just, you know, got two new firefighters. And so I'm wondering, Chief Springer, would you want to tell us about the Santa parade? [48:30] I I didn't uh otherwise I can cover it for you, too, but maybe you want to tell folks that Santa's coming to town as a part of staff updates. [laughter] [48:43] >> Uh, Mayor Cos, no, he did not prep me for this, but I did. [laughter] I was but I was still prepared. >> Oh, you were prepared, of course. Uh so yes, just as a reminder to all of our residents, um and really what is one of my favorite events of the year is our Santa tour. So Saturday, December 13th, uh not this Saturday, but the following Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. uh your Rosemont Fire Department along with your police department will be uh escorting Santa around town. Um there's going to be two different groups. It'll be kind of a westside tour and an east side tour. Uh but we will be going around getting out into the communities, meeting with the residents. Uh come out, see Santa Claus, and then uh more importantly, we're also collecting donations for our local food shelf uh for 360 communities. [49:28] I believe that uh there will be a Santa tracker, uh GPS tracker. So if you log on to our Facebook, you know, city of Rosemont website, you should be able to see Santa as he's driving around or as they're going through the neighborhood. So you'll know when they're coming to your neighborhood. So you can come out um and visit with us. So I'll just encourage everybody to please come out, visit with your fire department and see Santa as he comes through town. [49:52] >> And do you recall how much uh was collected last year? >> That's the tough part. >> I believe I believe it was over 700 pounds of food. >> Yeah. So >> and a few hundred um in cash donations. >> So just uh reaching out in the community. Um give what you can. It's well appreciated. It's well used. Um this afternoon I was at the chamber event where we had nonprofits um talk about uh we had 21 nonprofits talk about the different services they had. One of those is uh communities 360s communities and uh that's where this food donations go to. So certainly take the opportunity. We have plenty of room in the trucks. [laughter] [50:37] >> Yes. >> Thank you. All right. >> Thank you. All right, seeing that you have nothing else. >> Nothing. You've heard enough from me. [clears throat] >> All right, so that took my first item was sanator. >> Um, but following that, we have a parks and natural resource commission meeting that's been moved to December 15th from 7 to 8:00 p.m. here at city hall and the port authority meeting December 16th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. again here at city hall. [51:08] um which will be followed by city council meeting 7 to 8:00 p.m. That takes us up pretty much through the end of the year, I believe, other than closings. We'll announce those at the December 16th of uh of the city hall for the holidays. So, with that, is there any other business to come before council? [51:30] Seeing none, I'll move to adjurnn. Is there a second? >> Second. I have a motion and second to adjourn the meeting. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> We are almost adjourned. I appreciate the residents who came out for this evening's uh truth and taxation. Uh we don't always get visitors. So appreciate uh seeing us and having comments for us. [51:54] Thank you very much. And that closes our meeting this evening. Thank you. [52:08] >> [music] [52:19] [music]