City Council Worksession

South St. Paul MAYOR/COUNCIL WORKSESSION SSP City Hall 125 3rd Avenue North Training room Monday, August 26, 2019 7:00 p.m. AGENDA: 1. HRA/EDA Budgets 2. 2020 Preliminary Budget Discussion 3. Second Quarter Financial Report 4. 11th Avenue South Alley Drainage Discussion 5. 8th Avenue South & Stop Sign Policy 6. Extend Audit Contract  EDA Worksession Report Date: August 26, 2019 EDA Executive Director: _________ 1 Agenda Item: 2020 EDA & HRA Proposed Levy-Supported Budgets Overview: According to Section 4.6 of the EDA’s by-laws, the EDA is required send its budget to the City Council, “which budget includes a written estimate of the amount of money needed by the Authority from the City in order for the Authority to conduct business during the upcoming fiscal year”. In addition, the programs and projects of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) were transferred to the EDA on January 1, 2016, and the responsibility for approving the HRA Property Tax Levy and Budget was transferred to the EDA. State Statute 469.033, Subd. 6, sets the maximum HRA levy at .0185% of the taxable market value of the City, and the maximum EDA levy at .01813% of the taxable market value of the City. For 2020, an EDA Property Tax Levy of $297,147 is proposed, while an HRA levy of $303,211 is proposed. Both of these represent an increase of 6% over 2018 levies. Attached are the 2019 Preliminary Budgets for both the EDA and HRA Levies. Key elements of each budget are noted below. EDA Budget (20280): • The EDA budget totals $308,291 and the primary costs are related to personnel (68%), professional services (9.7% - all for legal services), and an operating transfer to the general fund (9.7% - funding a portion of the City Planner position). • An “Administration Support Fee” of $15,385 (about 5% of the budget) is included as it relates to supporting the services provided by the Administration (particularly Finance, City Admin., IT). • The 2020 EDA Budget includes $11,113 (3.6% of the budget) which goes towards supporting the Progress Plus program and the Open to Business program. • Overall, the proposed budget represents a decrease of 0.69% over the 2019 Budget. HRA Budget (20260): • The HRA General Housing budget totals $303,211, and the primary costs are related to salaries (32%) and operating transfers (30%), specifically to support the EDA’s 2019 budget and to work towards correcting a cash deficit in the EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund. • Although several legacy HRA programs have been shifted to Dakota County, our Housing Program continues to have significant administrative responsibility for various housing programs and functions; both a $40,272 “Administration Support Fee” (13.2% of the budget) and a portion of Economic & Community Development staff salary and benefits (32% of the budget) are thus allocated to the HRA budget in 2020. • The 2020 HRA Budget proposes $50,000 (16.5% of the budget) for “Master Housing Strategy Implementation”. Staff will be working with a Task Force over the course of the next several months to establish a Master Housing Strategy, which we anticipate will recommend specific tools and resources for implementation of the Strategy. The $50,000 proposed set-aside will be used to establish these resources, potentially serving as “seed money” for a specific program or set of programs. • The HRA/EDA continue to own properties – mostly small, vacant residential lots – throughout the community that require maintenance (lawn service, snow/ice removal, trash removal). The 2020 HRA Budget includes $12,000 (4% of the budget) for these purposes. • Overall, the proposed budget represents an increase of 0.21% over the 2019 Budget The Community Development functions are supported primarily through the HRA and EDA levies. The current functional makeup and focus of the EDA continues to be in a period of evolution and transition away from the old HRA model that focused heavily on federally funded programs through HUD (Section 8, CDBG, and Public Housing) towards more locally-tailored policies and programs. The Council has acknowledged that redevelopment, property value/tax stabilization, and quality housing are among the highest priority goals for the community. The EDA and HRA levies provide critical resources for the City to be able to pursue those goals and to implement actions, policies, and programs that will help us attain those goals. Funding Sources and other fiscal considerations: This is the proposed preliminary 2020 EDA and HRA Property Tax Levy and Budget, which will guide the income and expenditures for much of the City’s Economic and Community Development activities next year. A COUNCIL WORK SESSION REPORT DATE: AUGUST 26, 2019 5 DEPARTMENT: Engineering ADMINISTRATOR: JRH AGENDA ITEM: 8th Avenue South & Stop Sign Policy ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Information only: for input and discussion OVERVIEW: The issue of adding stop signs on 8th Avenue South at Richmond Street West, Spruce Street West, and Poplar Street West was discussed at the July 1st Council meeting. Staff’s recommendation was to install yield signs at these uncontrolled intersections based on a cursory review of the intersections and discussions with the Police Department. At that meeting, the City Council approved a motion to continue consideration regarding placement of stop signs on 8th Avenue South to the September 3rd meeting. Staff interpretation of the Council’s discussion prior to approving the motion was that a majority of the Council would approve installation of stop signs at the intersections if a valid petition was received by the September 3rd meeting. We discussed the policy and provided an update at the July 22, 2019 Worksession that only one valid petition has been received, and an invalid petition was returned to the submitter for additional signatures. We also discussed looking at the stop sign policy for revisions to the process and policy. UPDATE: To date, we have received a valid petition for the intersection of Spruce Street West. An invalid petition for the intersection of Poplar Street West was received and the resident that supplied the invalid petition for Poplar Street West was informed that the petition required more support from properties within 300 feet of the intersection to be valid. The petition for Poplar Street West has not been resubmitted and no petition was ever received for Richmond Street West. Traffic data has been collected for the intersection of 8th Avenue South and Spruce Street West for analysis and we are currently completing the justification worksheet for the intersection. SUMMARY: We would like to review the results of the justification worksheet and have a discussion on the implementation of the policy and/or policy modifications before any action is taken at the September 3rd meeting.