the Tuesday September 3rd 2024 meeting of the Eden perie city council is now called to order please rise for the pledge of allegiance iedge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one na God indivisible andice I think I read in in many of um among many of the articles that come across us on our phone each day that today maybe some of you in the audience KN knew this in looking at the flag it reminded me that today September 3rd 1777 the flag behind us in its current eration with blue and stars and and the stripes was voted on anyway was selected and so basically the birth of our flag as we know it was today in 1777 Mr social saes teacher did you know that or am I correct you you yes you are correct okay thank you my phone did not lie all right uh it's customary for me at this time in the meeting to read an open podium in invitation to our residents open Podium is an opportunity for Eden Prairie residents to address the city council on issues related to Eden Prairie City Government prior to each council meeting these Council meetings typically occur the 1 and third Tuesday of each month the open podiums are from 6:30 to 6:55 here in the council chamber if you wish to speak at open Podium please do contact the city manager's office at 952 949 8412 by noon of the meeting date with your name your phone number and subject matter so we can be better prepared for you open Podium is not recorded or televised if you have questions about open Podium please do contact the city manager's office Mr Geto I um believe we have an HRA meeting uh embedded within the normal city council meeting do I need to turn it to you or simply call the h meeting to order uh mayor feel free to call it to order I'll I can mention just the one item for the reason you're meeting I'll throw it back to you then so the HRA meeting uh housing Redevelopment Authority which some cities have as a separate entity uh we and Eden Prairie uh historically for as long as I can know about or remember have had the city council act as the HRA so h a meeting is now called to order uh the first item of businesses to approve the minutes of our last HRA meeting which was held back on December 5th 20 2023 I'll entertain a motion to approve those minutes move to approve the HRA minutes from December 5th 2023 is there second second any further discussion all those in favor say I I opposed Mr Geto take it away thank you uh members of the HRA so both the city council and the HRA uh this month sometime in the month of September need to approve their respective preliminary uh tax levies maximum tax levies this obviously will be Revisited again in December um much more to come through the rest of the year but September is that time to set those preliminary levies I'm going to talk later I have a few slides later on in the regular city council meeting about the city budget but when it comes to the HRA budget for the last several years the levy for the HRA has been money that we need to um the staff time associated with all of our Housing and Development programs we've chosen to um just Levy a tax um proposed to be $220,000 next year I believe that's the same amount it was the year before we've we've moved a little bit from the 200,000 we had for a number of years but $220,000 um is still very conservative compared to the amount that we legally could Levy which is over $2.6 million however as the council is well aware we have many other sources of funding outside of a tax levy for um all of our Housing Programs including one I'll talk about in the council meeting which is our cdbg funds but the levy that you need to vote on is an HRA and the budget that you need to vote on is in the packet and is set at $220,000 for 2025 and maybe this is a good uh opportunity to just comment that sometimes people legitimately like to compare uh one city maybe comparing Eden Prairie to other cities around us both our budget our Levy um and if you looked at an HRA budgeting uh Levy amount from other cities around us you'll get all over the Spectrum just different cities on raise their money in different ways you you hinted at that we have cdbg funding we have various sources that we can um take money and group money uh together to accomplish our objectives around housing so we choose to keep this rather low some other cities might choose to um make this Levy higher it's just again cities um do a lot of the same things we just often go about it a little bit differently so it's often never Apples to Apples when you're trying to compare one City's lby to another Council any um questions comments further discussion if not uh would somebody like to make a motion to adopt this resolution I'll move to adopt the resolution to approve the proposed 2025 property tax levy to be $220,000 and accept the proposed 2025 budget of $220,000 second any further discussion all those in favor say I I I oppose is there a motion to adjourn the HRA meeting I move to adjourn the HRA meeting is there second second further discussion all those in favor say I I I opposed uh before we um get into um this next um part of the meeting which I'm really excited about I just want to say senator sweny that often uh you and other government teachers would send your students to meetings and they would sit in the back and take notes and sometimes we'd have 10 15 of them and a couple times we'd have this HRA meeting embedded in it and we'd go and adjourn the HRA meeting you could see their expression is like wow that was a two-minute meeting no that was just the H then I have to explain no we might be still fast but we have another 40 minutes of a meeting anyway it I thought it was humorous at the time okay Mr Geto yes uh thank you mayor uh we hinted at this at our last meeting two weeks ago we uh discussed how we have uh state senator our state senator that covers all of Eden Prairie um the one State Senate District that we have um um with Senator swedzinski has received some recognition from the league of Minnesota cities which is an organization as I talked about a few weeks ago that provides a lot of training and development and also um lobbying and support for 800 plus uh cities uh all sizes in the entire state of Minnesota um at the state and federal level and the league of Minnesota cities recently honored 25 lawmakers um throughout the entire state of Minnesota only a few senators and our Senator our Eden Prairie Senator uh sadinski was one of those 2024 legislators of Distinction and I know mayor you have a proclamation that you're going to read and we hope that the senator can um say a few words and accept the um distinction and the recognition uh a lot of what was mentioned at the league of Minnesota cities level was the Senator's help with dealing with the um school resource officer issues as you recall there were um some problematic issues with legislation from two sessions ago that our Senator worked on um this past session and the session before that so that was a big part of um the recognition he serves as you'll hear in the proclamation on um Public Safety and many different education committees that had a huge role in helping kind of clear and fix for lack of a better term that legislation um but we are obviously very honored to have uh him recognized as one of a few of many different state legislators as being um one of the best according to the league of Minnesota cities and I will turn things back to you mayor for the proclamation and the rest of the presentation great thank you before I read the proclamation I I do just want to say that one of my favorite words really that is part of my role as mayor so often is the word partnership and we as a city as you know we have such great Partnerships with our school district with our Chamber of Commerce uh with our um County elected officials and with neighbor and City municipal elected officials but also not but and also we have tremendous Partnerships and connections with our legislators um Chief among them then our state senator um and um if you think about that so often when you get organizations that are connecting it really comes down to people and that's why sometimes organizations connect better than other times through years as years go by because the people involved uh actually build a close relationship and that's that's one thing that I'm just thrilled tonight that Senator St swenski has been not just a um associate of mine I mean we both uh were teachers in the School District but a a friend all these years and to have him uh be excelling and then recognized for that for those accomplishments is um something I i' um am very excited for him so I will read the proclamation and then I'll come down um and if you want to come forward and we can um I don't know if anyone's taking pictures yes not um and then if you want to say a few words um you certainly may so Proclamation city of Eden Prairie henpen County Minnesota senator Steve schinski day Flag Day and Senator Steve schinski day that's amazing well not the flag day but okay he's a government teacher so he knows all this all right whereas Senator Steve wasinski was first elected to the state senate in 2016 and has served on numerous committees including education which you were chair uh education Finance education policy elections and state and local government and veterans and is currently the chair of the civility caucus I I hope that's becomes on a national level also for you you would do great whereas Senator suzenski taught American government and history at Eden perie high school for over 30 years and has been recognized as Southwest Metro teacher of the year Eden Prairie teacher of the year and has received the presidential Scholars influential teacher award at the White House and whereas senator Senor SW wasinski has been married for over 30 years to wife Patty she ought to be receiving this Proclamation I think is that right um and has raised two wonderful children John and Erica and has welcomed two grandchildren and whereas Senator sweni has served in the legislature for 2,801 days working on behalf of I don't know who counted that but working on behalf of Eden Prairie to pass legislation important to cities and whereas Senator sweni is one of 25 Minnesota lawmakers to be recognized as a 2024 legislator of Distinction by the league of Minnesota cities and where as Senator suzenski earned the recognition by working to securing bipartisan passage of legislation to clarify the authority and role of school resource officers to ensure students and teachers have a safe learning environment now therefore be it resolved the Eden PR City C proclaims today Tuesday September 3rd 2024 as Senator Steve schinski day in the city of Eden Prairie Minnesota Ronald mayor on behalf of council members council member Kathy Nelson mark fryberg p ory and Lisa to me [Applause] stand over here and I'll you hold this congratulations you can say if you want yeah there you go um hugs have taken on a new meaning in my life this summer um but that's a whole another story I don't mean to correct you um um mayor but um um when the these gu the guys were heading into battle and um they needed a flag and so they knock on Betsy Ross's door they knew she was a seamstress and go and they were yelling we need a flag we need a flag and Betsy Ross looks at him and goes just a minute man and the name stuck and that's how the minute man got their name and Dad joke dad joke no it's a college level and she um she goes back and a couple minutes later she comes forward with the flag and um um and she says to the the guys you know so what do you think and that was our nation's first flag poll and um what do you think of the flag [Laughter] survey your kids I'm sure students loved it you know I don't know what to say I'm I'm humbled you know I'm just so blessed that I got to spend 33 31 years of my life in Eden Prairie teaching I never regretted a Monday or look forward to a Friday it was purely a a joy and pleasure the students and the parents and the community um were a blessing to a teacher and and now I get after eight years of serving um Eden Prairie again not as a teacher but as a senator it's again I've never regretted a Monday or look forward to a Friday yet in that role either although I must admit the school resource officer um issued did give me a few more gray hairs but I think it was resolved and it's a classic example of um how a bill becomes a lot 101 and compromise and compromise and compromise and and um you know and at one point I I came up with this theory of life and that um you know that um the purpose of our existence is to solve as much of the puzzle as possible before we perish and um last year at the state fair so I wish this happened this year but it was last year I'm at the State Fair I was um um Staffing I I I'm trying not to say Manning but I'm you know stuck in my way so to speak and I was Staffing the the booth at the at the state senate and I met Patty after my wife and we went and had a beer and we get to the after we get the beer and we're looking around there's no spot to sit and um um so this couple goes wa join us you know and total State Fair and we're sitting down what's your favorite food what's your favorite ride what do you like to do and this guy looks over and he sees my state senate shirt and he goes um do you work at the state senate and I said well yeah I do and then my wife outed me and said well he's a state senator and invariably what often time happens next is Democrat Republican with almost a tone and um their response was thank you for your willingness to serve and we don't hear that enough in public service and it was just a joy and a pleasure that they went off and on and on and on about how difficult they know it is to be a public servant and so I thank you guys because words and proclamations like this don't happen um as a person by myself I stand on the shoulders of giants i i i relish the opportunity for um because I know some people may think I have all these ideas up here there's none um they all come from lobbyists and constituents and people that come to my office and they say we have an idea and when the league of cities comes in they my door is open because they have some pretty great ideas on how the um I'm shocked when I find out there's over 800 cities in Minnesota but nonetheless I don't know what to say other than thank you from bottom of my heart for this honor and this privilege and I hope you guys have a you know as as Humpty Dumpty you know he he had a great fall and it was to make up for his lousy summer so I hope um you didn't have a i lousy summer and you have a great fall thank you may thank you for your [Music] [Applause] service and if you need to run we won't be offended I know your incredibly busy all right where are we at here approval of the well you know what let me let me pause thank you um any council members Steve just turn around don't walk out yet any council members wish just you don't have to I'm putting you on the spot say anything I'll say something Senator I you taught my kids and you definitely gave them lot of ideas and you taught them I think it's like 20 years ago and they loved you you know the the style that you have and they talk about it and they talk about you more than any other teachers uh um so I'm sure you touched thousands of students in Ed Prairie last 31 years and Total Service of 33 years of as a teacher and uh Al as a senator last from 16 to now and you also I get to know you a little better and you're awesome and you definitely don't represent as a Democrat or Republican you truly represent the EMP and thank you so much anyway else don't have to sure go ahead I agree with PG but um actually I would like having your kids in class you did not you did not have any of my children in class because they are non-existent but um I remember meeting someone I cannot remember the gentleman's name I'm sorry but his office is right next to years's and he said that every single person in the capital loves you whether Democrat or a Republican and I know that everybody here feels the same way so thank you for your service to to Eden Prairie and even other areas of the state too I know that you helped other people so thank you very much anything else yes go ahead you know I can't pass this up I got to thank you for what you've done um through many conversations you and I have had I've got a very high respect for you um how you can bring together that's one of your real strengths as I've seen it and you're now you're on the commission of Civility I think mayor said something it'd be nice to take that to Washington but you know it's one thing like you know when we talk so many problems we face whether it's at a local level a state level and I'm going to say also on a national level the resolution's in the middle the resolution isn't here or it's here and I think the the secret to your success as our Senator and why I admire you so much is that you know you understand that and um I think I've learned much from you in our conversations and I thank you my friend there you go keep it going I'll have to also say you were one of my kids favorite teachers of all time um and the job you've been doing at the legislature is tremendous and so definitely thank you for that hopefully you'll continue for a very long time doing it and um all I can say is keep it up you're going in the right direction thank you Senator as I said on the shoulders of giants thanks take care thank you all right moving on then to the approval of the agenda uh before I ask for a motion I believe there are a couple items to add just one item oh just one for PG Nan council member anybody else then okay approval of the agenda with the addition of the one council member report can I have a motion I'll move to approve the agenda with the addition of council member report sir second second further discussion all those in favor say I I opposed all right moving on to minutes let's Clump them together unless you wish to separate them any uh edits uh any changes comments on uh either the workshop held Tuesday August 20th minutes or for the council meetings same day if not is there a motion to approve both Mo to approve the following city council minutes C Council Workshop held Tuesday August 20th 2024 city council meeting held Tuesday August 20th 2024 there second second further discussion all those in favor say I I oppos I think this has to be the shortest consent calendar I can recall seeing in in Forever uh for those listening at home or in the audience consent calendars um often will list out not necessarily housekeeping but fairly perfunctory or not not worth they or needing further discussion though council members can pull any items they wish so any concerns on any of them but particularly B and C and if not um let's go ahead and make a motion I'll move approval of items a to c and consent calendar there second second further discussion all those in favor say I I all right Mr Geto we have one public hearing tonight we do mayor as as you recall on an annual basis you vote to um accept and distribute your Community Development block grant funds but also um there's additional requirements and tonight is one of those requirements where you hold a public hearing um simply hold a public hearing no other action on our annual performance and evaluation report on how we um used our cdbg funds these are federal funds um passed through and managed by Hud at the federal level Housing and Urban Development um as a way of background we typically receive in the neighborhood of somewhere of you know $300,000 a year approximately we won't know what we're going to receive next year till um spring however those funds are used to support low to moderate income persons with um mainly housing needs so we have put almost all this money internally toward our firsttime home buyer program in our housing rehab program um and also toward um Emergency Services of which many are provided by our service providers such as um prop prop food shelf and your community services so we help people out with emergency assistance that they may need so in the packet is I believe it's a 30 page report talking about um who we've served and how we've served them and we have to hold um one public hearing um following that calendar year or it's not calendar year actually the cdbg funds are kind of a July to July um so this is a requirement of Hud that you hold a public hearing over our performance and evaluation report from 2023 and then again you need to take no action you just need to hold and then make a motion to close the public hearing and again um you can Envision that the um Congress as they're sending quite a bit of money aggregately out Across the Nation to every city uh really in their mandate that we hold this type of public hearing really wants simply the light to shine on this idea that they are dispensing money um not to give us approval or but they can people can certainly give us recommendations um but really it's just simply to have every Council across the United States of America listening to people's responses on the fact that Congress sent this money out okay um so Council this is a public hearing um I'm assuming since we're not actually going to vote or anything if you want to talk or add any comments we can do it after we close the public hearing is that fine okay um this is a public hearing anyone in the audience wishing to address the Council on the 2023 Community Development block grant consolidate annual performance and evaluation report see none um then council is there a motion to approve closing the public hearing move move to close sorry move to close public hearing so second second any further discussion on just that motion all those in favor say I I Council anything else you wish to say or share about this topic before we move on okay moving on to payment of claims is there a motion well let me ask you first um any of the expens expenditures again the classic sense of check writing which doesn't happen anymore um any um expenses that you wish to know more about okay if not is there a motion to approve the payment of claims I'll move for approval of pavement of claims as submitted sir second uh further discussion a roll call council member fryberg I council member nrian I council member Nelson I council member I mayor case I all right moving on to reports of council members council member Naran thank you mayor um can you Sarah can you bring up [Music] that you you go thank you I just want to uh highlight the ridership data for the South transit for the State Fair event took place last week can we go to Second slide this is some amazing numbers uh uh we transported more than 100,000 passengers in the is it 7 day period I think uh 10 yeah 10be there The Bu 11 11 if you count uh except the Labor Day I think Labor Day that they did not 11 days maybe 11 days 11 days if you include Labor Day okay so it it's still 100,000 is a huge number and that's the other side is around 30% more than last years so the complexity of transporting close to 100,000 people from Ed Prairie to State fa there's a logistical um nightmare I would say it's very challenging and it's the the peak ridership uh is around 15,000 per day um and that's again that's a record number and and top of it all these things that we received around 95% customer satisfaction survey from the Riders next slide so if you look at the annual ridership Trend you can see before covid kind of hit 115,000 then just dipped dramatically and we almost preco time in terms of ridership next slide and and uh if you look at the per day rate and you can see we also very close to the preco ridership level um and and for a Transit company the ridership is uh the the covid was very very difficult time because everything shut down and you had to really transform the whole organization and ramp it to make this happen uh and this year they started looking at we started looking at kind of market share what is the total number of people attended which how many people that we give a right to and uh we are around two almost 3% and I want to add uh Mark fber is uh also um in the southwest Transit Commission uh Mark anything else that you you seen these numbers anything else that you can add when when I was sent these numbers the one thing that I look at that I you know uh pretty impressed with was market share because no matter if your writers ship is up or down in a year that percent of the total attendance you know is you know is glaring when you start looking that this year was the highest we ever had know 2.88% of all fair goers uh Road our you know Southwest transit buses and that goes back back to you know the Heyday when um before you know covid uh it's it even beat those numbers and so that growth and it's happened you know three you know three good years right there 2022 23 and now 24s when we Peak I see that going up and continually especially if that's satisfaction rating I'm I'm very happy with that just a quick explanation that the uh Southwest Transit Commission is composed of two four six three cities three cities but seven Commissioners and then the non voting eth um so it's chasa Chanhassen and Eden Prairie uh generally while each City can send two we started some 15 years ago sending our two of our council members so council member fryberg and council member nian uh represent the people of Eden Prairie on the Southwest Transit Commission and next year uh because it rotates that seventh member uh rotates among the cities that will be Eden PR here so we'll have the opportunity to have a third uh commissioner that U Will Will hail from Eden Prairie um both um council member fryberg and Naran is there uh um an easily understood basic explanation for why we're improving the way we did especially over last year is it marketing is it LO is it just we don't know why if I may goad uh recently we we hired a new CEO last year um Eric Hansen uh who brought his own Vision uh surround himself with Thinking Beyond block people and uh strong marketing absolutely we've even gotten involved in you know a lot of rebranding uh to upgrade the look and um I expect this to continue I mean I don't think we've you know we've seen the end of uh the creativity of it it's a it's a great answer go ahead I just going to say this said Tumi was just saying I think that she was saying it was very good weather so I'm sure a lot of people went to the good point fair and overall that you know besides I agree with the mark that Eric has built a good team organization and and good that's Customer Satisfaction come from that right 95% that's pretty impressive per well thank you thank you for representing us and um I've always appreciated having Southwest Metro in our city uh and giving our residents this um I think pretty amazing um service um opportunities for us so all right Mr gro we are moving on to report of city manager thank you mayor as I mentioned in the HRA meeting uh September is the month to set preliminary tax levies in the state of Minnesota and you took action on your HRA Levy tonight we ask that you take action on the preliminary Levy um for the regular City budget and T other tax levies uh as I mention at this time every year this is the ceiling um you're setting the ceiling of what your Levy can be you can actually lower it between now and the end of the year but you cannot raise it it has been our history for many many years that this Levy that is set in September is the levy that is usually approved in December because we do most of our work in the spring in the summer so by the time we get here there shouldn't be really any surprises or anomalies and quite frankly the tax proposed tax statement that our residents are going to get in November we'd like it to be closest to what would actually be adopted but you need to hold a public hearing and vote on that budget in December so I have a few few quick slides that you've seen in at least two different workshops so the council's seen this you've seen this in June and August but I just wanted to do this um for everybody else before you take a vote and to let people know that our budget process is a two-year budget process and it it repeats so we're actually going to be restarting a cycle that started two years years ago um with Citywide work plans with a community survey that we actually did um almost two years ago and we'll be doing again in a few months that provided information on our service levels and our resident feelings on our service levels that provided information to the council in addition to all your financial information that allowed you to think about how you're going to set the budget and this is the second year of a two-year budget so um City staff actually prepare they prepare two years worth of um budgetary numbers and they adjust in in the second year how does Insurance look how do utilities look what changes might not be made but you'd actually be surprised at the amount of change that isn't needed in the second year of the budget but it allows us to plan ahead for all of our capital projects and all of our Personnel so you know two years in advance if we need additional employees additional program programs additional services so here we are at the tail end of the second year of a two-year budget of which you've already devoted a few workshops too and also um you know the the survey that we had was was very clear that people enjoy the services that they get at the city level they come to appreciate them you're going to see they get them at a a very good value but they want that to continue and we are compared very favorably with our peers um throughout the nation not just the state in many of those core services that we provide um the entire surveys is available on the website we talk a lot about um Community characteristics Community concerns Community issues but I just focused on um service level information for the budget when you put together both the 24 and 25 budget you had goals related to that particular budget that you were putting together you had goals that you needed to be balanced you wanted to be conservative on the revenues that you're going to bring in and also on the expenditures so we would not go over budget and we have not done that and you always take a look on a regular basis um as to what your long range Capital needs are what our fees are what our charges for services are and also understanding that the majority of what we do as a city is a people uh service oriented business so you'll see a few charts later on that close to 70 75% of our budget is um benefits and salaries and Staffing for our employees so obviously we want to have very strong hiring programs onboarding professional development training Recruitment and competitive pay and that's all a part of the employees that we bring on as it relates to this two-year budget um currently we're in a year where there are five elections you're going to see the administration budget goes down next year because there are zero election C at Eden Prairie but each department had a few major programs that they were working on besides the everyday service delivery um and actually one of those the fire department affected um some of the discussion in the summer workshops because we did a major um fire Staffing study and did a slight adjustment to the levy between June and August based on that we also have um some Capital purchases for fire a major remodel of City Hall um and again I talked earlier about recruitment a lot happening in Parks and Recreation um with Trails buildings programs events uh uh Public Works infrastructure that we continue to invest in um we just had a workshop uh couple hours ago on Race Equity our next Workshop in two weeks is going to be on sustainability those are two major um issues or priorities of the city council and housing as well we just talked about that with the with the cdbg program we have a lot of policies related to housing so when it comes down to the preliminary budget that we're looking at on the revenue side of things um again the huge percent of what we bring into our general fund this does not counter Enterprise funds this is not water sewer debt tax increment financing Economic Development our liquor fund this is strictly the general fund the general operations U mentioned with the service delivery that the vast majority of our Reven Revenue um comes in taxes but we also do get uh permits licenses we get very little intergovernmental Revenue if if you were to show this slide at maybe 200 other cities in the state of Minnesota the second largest source of Revenue by far uh could be intergovernmental Revenue be it local government Aid or other state aid that is in the millions of dollars tens of millions of dollars um in in cities that are close to our size um but charges for services which would be a lot of our Recreation programs our our community center is a big part of our Revenue as well and we're forecasting about a 5% increase um in total revenue uh and that's just the budget part the largest source of Revenue is property taxes I just mentioned that uh second largest source is charges for services the largest source of charges for services is our community center memberships in our general fund and as you you know we talked about this in Workshop we are happy to see that a lot of that revenue is getting back to preco levels also licensing and permit permit Revenue development revenue is our third largest source of Revenue and we do want to budget that conservatively we've had many years you can see from 2018 to 2023 where we've exceeded our Revenue in development Revenue but we still want to budget conservatively all the dollars above that more lighter blue line goes into our Capital maintenance fund so those are Le that's less money you have to borrow in the future less of a levy you have to make for um Capital Improvements so that's been a really positive as well moving to the expenditure um side of things I mentioned kind of breaking down the six major departments um we're actually looking at only a 4.3% increase in spending for next year and considering that inflation and we AG adjustments um are actually that that number or higher um we're pretty pleased with that number that's mostly what these expenditure increases are there aren't any major new programs the the new Personnel in the largest increase is in the fire budget that we propose based on the results of the Staffing study um that talk about bringing on uh more employees to staff more stations more hours and there's more to come on that there'll be many uh slides really relateded to that in December um but those are additional new positions that you've been talking about this summer when you look at the total budget you can see in a py graph form a majority of what our costs are our wages and benefits and even within those internal service funds like facilities it and Fleet um there are costs within that that are um employee staff costs but the difference between this year and last year is even greater of an emphasis on wages and benefits the total budget change proposed from 24 to 25 um is a vast majority um wages and benefits and you can actually see that some of the areas are going down our our contracted Services number is actually proposed to decrease next year and I said this in Workshop many of your efforts in sustainability um have led to um it's still an increase we have to have an increase in our facilities budget of about 213,000 but that number could be closer to 3 or 400,000 if not for many of our energy saving programs so in summary when you well actually not in summary when you go go from the budget to the levy um we're proposing initially what would be a general fund um Levy of 6.4% but because our debt Levy and capital Improvement fund Levy are flat uh the end result to the taxpayer would be a proposed Levy increase of 5.8% and uh total budget change of 4.1% in all of those funds the debt Levy again stays the same the market value and the effect on the taxpayer um is reflected in value the mayor said this many times it's kind of a three-prong thing what is the value of your property what is the city's tax levy what is the city's tax rate um we've actually seen a very much of flattening in the increases in residential property values um and a decrease in commercial values and a decrease in multi-fam um apartment values I will I will say that having a decrease in commercial value of only 1% in an increase in industrial of almost 7% leaves you with an overall increase in Combined commercial and industrial property of 2% is actually pretty good considering what you're seeing with all the vacancies of commercial property in other cities and we do have vacancies but I think those commercial numbers are are down even more in other communities so we're actually holding our own pretty well and um I think you're seeing throughout the Metro um somewhat of a flattening uh at least in the 2023 sales year of residential property but what that means though is because commercial and is down and multifamilies down there is a little bit more of a shift the homeowner the residential homeowner is going to pick up a little bit more of the tax burden um that that is a result of commercial decreasing and a lot of what happens on an individual's tax bill is going to depend on the value of their property I talked about this in Workshop that properties low valued at less than a half a million dollars have some exclusion of their market value that's a Statewide program they also are taxed at a lower rate per the state of Minnesota that's every home in the state of Minnesota being taxed at 1% at 500 or below 500,000 or below but taxed at one and a half% beyond that so depending on the value of your home you're going to have a different change in your tax bill and that varies but what I think is also good news is um how we end up looking compared to our peers and I say many times that we don't build a budget compared to how any other city will build a budget or have a tax levy but when we're done doing that we look around and we see how we Faire amongst other cities and and the graph on the right I'm sorry on the left shows you that our taxable rate the rate that's multiplied by your property value and tax tax capacity value to give you your city property tax is um one of the lowest in henpen County that's henpen County I know it's one of the lowest in the Metro because those are cities above 10,000 um there are cities that are much smaller than us that have higher tax rates and when you look at the graph on the right there's only one city um of our similar size pure city that is looking at a levy that's less than 5.8% um everybody seems to be kind of in the six seven eight or above and every City's different um other cities might be dealing with major capital projects their debt levies are going up um many I know are doing what we're doing with our fire department Staffing they're adding a percent or two um based on fire department Staffing and so there's a mirror of reasons that those levies might be different but at the end of the day um we have one of the lowest in the area and that tells you that our tax rate is going to stay that way as well um so what is next uh hopefully at this meeting for sure by the end of the month the council will set their preliminary Levy and then um res every single taxpayer in the city will receive notice um that we've set December 3rd is a date that anybody could attend at the city level to um for a public hearing related to taxes there will be hearings at the school level and at the county level as well and we would anticipate to have a public hearing and take action on a final budget in December so um with that my final comment is then that the ask of you tonight is to Pro um pass resolutions related to setting the preliminary uh property tax levy the budget and setting the hearing date and with that I can certainly answer any questions that the council may have first I want to underscore um what you had I think on slide Two showing the calendar of budget discussions from 2023 January through 24 showing that we've been at this for nearly two years um and and I know sometimes it seems maybe to a resident just um dialing in or just watching tonight's meeting that this is a really important momentous um decision we're making and and we're not glassing over but we we act on it fairly quickly well we've seen this a lot for a year and nine or 10 months I just want to underscore that um second thing I just want to underscore that you said um that if people wonder you know why does Eden Prairie have such a regularly fairly low Levy increase well a couple things uh one is we may not always um difference not Apples to Apples some cities are doing things as you mentioned from major capital projects to increasing their fire department uh full-time at a faster rate than we might be looking at there's just it's not apples apples but our tax base which is just the amount of property that's in your city that if you sold it are we over 13 what are we at now 14 14 billion doll tax base on our 35 5.2 square miles I believe to be exact um is really healthy and in the mix of 60% residential and 40% uh commercial industrial uh so we we broaden that so that if Apartments go up or down one year um it's not going to you know we're not 90% Apartments it's not going to hurt us badly that one year or residential goes up or down so there's a lot of things that Senator sweni talked about standing on the shoulders of giants well we stand on the shoulders of well since 1968 for sure with the master guide plan but 32 52 56 years of of uh councils and mayors that have really made some great decisions in terms of development third thing I'd like to say is that people sometimes don't like development and they often will make accusations that all we care about's money we're just going to approve projects just to to get more tax based and we never look at that we just never look at that that's not that's not relevant we're excited that we're a city that people want to move into that businesses want to move into that people want to reinvest and build and it's that that now keeps tax levy reasonable that because we have this strong tax base which drives a lower tax rate which drives then year after year the ability to keep our uh Le heavy lower so it is connected the fact that um I I'll give one example the fact that we approved recently um in a residential area there was a one-story $2 million valued um industrial building or Warehouse or office or something um and the proposal came in to build okay I'm forgetting now 22 homes or something that were 1.2 million average or something but the tax base was going from two million to 20 million we we didn't go out to get that and that's not the reason we voted for it but it shows how our tax base keeps increasing which then our our budget is what we feel we need to raise to to meet the needs of the residents who elect us that that amount 50 North side of 50 million comes from whatever tax base we have so if we have a eight billion doll tax base you raise $50 million from it if you have a $ 14 billion tax base you raise $50 million from that tax base so our tax base does directly positively impact our ability to keep the levy as low as we can and still still address and still meet the needs of our residents who we hear from all the time not just in emails and at the grocery store but in our very extensive surveys which give us 90 plus% ratings in in fact approval ratings some of the highest in the United States of America as you mentioned in many categories so we feel oh and by the way elections are ways to give us feedback that we're listening well and and making decisions appropriately based on what our residents what we believe and feel they want if they don't agree then again there are elections that um can can you can become part of I hope everybody votes and of course there's the survey and then just call up or email us so with that um Council what would you like to um ask questions about make comments on uh before we and we can talk about it after we make a motion as well but anything any of you want to um talk about right now regarding this resolution to certify well there's three items there but four actually Council are you okay making the motion and voting okay would uh somebody make the motion on all four bullet points I'll move to adopt the resolution to certify the proposed 20125 property tax levy to be 49,97493 and set December 3rd 2024 at 7M is the meeting which will include discussion of the budget and provide for public comment and accept the proposed 2025 budget of 6 2,778 1864 and consent and approved to the HRA tax levy of $220,000 is there a second second is there any further discussion I've got one real quick thing sure please um you know one thing you didn't mention is that we have been working very hard at Energy Efficiency and has cut our energy costs for the whole city be it for T traffic lights you know street lights everything else we use has been cut quite a bit over the years and um our public works department keeps coming up with new ideas all the time and so that's very very worthwhile to the community also we keep our Parks up so that we don't let them disintegrate and then have to come back to do them and it both gets safe good parks for the community but in the long term it costs less so those are the types of things that you could go on and on from Water Center or whatever but um we do work hard at that and that does allow us to keep our taxes at the reasonable end of the Metropolitan taxes no well well said and we do have a highquality community and yes it does increase our home values with which increases the general tax base but that benefits us when if and when we sell our house and a lot of that is because people want to move into Eden Prairie residents want to live here we're known as a safe highquality community and what I'm finding more and more as I do my meet and greet visits with um Mr Geto and with um dve andall our uh manager I call him director of Community Development or did I get that right yeah I think so the man I know the manager piece but I wanted to get the second part right to but um we we go out and we talk to um I think we're up to over 400 businesses we've gone and actually sat down with the SE suite and we we chat and we ask them how are we doing and what else can we be doing and we get tremendous positive feedback businesses are moving into Eden Prairie as as quickly as they can find space and buildings to do that so we have a lot going on that improves and continues to improve our reputation as a highquality safe community that people want to live in work in and recreate in M uh council member and Ryan I I just want to emphasize uh the reason we you may see we don't have a lot of question tonight because we have seen this before and we have seen this before and we have seen this before multiple times with the staff have and we had a lot of questions and uh we all kind of agree that high quality service that we providing we need to have these changes and these uh budget changes and to your point this is not staff coming up with these ideas and bringing it to us hey what do you guys think this is us picking up and reflecting back what our residents tell us going to staff with our goals with our objectives um and they the plans then to implement what we direct and I I've said this for years and years 20 plus years that if you want to know what the community of Eden Prairie I'm making up a date here in 1973 what they valued read their budget their budget is the reflection because it's where they spend their money it's the reflection of their priorities of their values of the community if that if that council at the time which I believe elections do their job if that Council was reflecting what the community wanted then the budget becomes the document that is the living proof of what that Community Values and what it prioritizes so we take it incredibly seriously and again it's our documents what we let staff know is our perception of what our community and residents let us know and I think we have good evidence to build our perceptions uh and then um it if it's all working well and we listened well and staff you know implemented well it all comes back and our and our community is pleased um and we're doing what they want us to be doing and building this high quality Community uh with um a really responsible and reasonable budget to do that all right any further discussion let's vote wait did we have a we had the motion we had the second okay um then all those in favor say I I I opposed all right Mr Geto and council is there anything else there's N I don't have may can I just add one item just just just a compliment to staff I don't I don't know how many of you received call complaint wise or compliment wise after the the storm I think our staff did an awesome job of cleaning up the road and cleaning the park and uh just want to say thank you to the staff and and immediately on the Fly um I think Mr Ellis this is you but um having the yard waste drop off site open two extra days um and I was there twice um and just and it's very busy and I think people really really appreciate that and it it keeps our community cleaned up um that you know super fast and in the moment after a storm like this hits so yes to the staff uh thank you um and I know based on what was up at Highway four and five when I also happened to be be there at 9:25 that evening driving home um I called Mr Geto at home apologize for that still but uh the police and fire response was amazing um I I couldn't begin to count the 20 emergency safety vehicles that were out there with light some anyway we just have again phenomenal Public Safety Public Works Parks and Recreation planning did I get Julie say did I get everybody HR okay all right I think we got everybody Finance Tammy accounting all right uh with that is there a motion to adjourn I moved to adjourn the city council meeting tonight is there a second second any further discussion all those in favor say I I I oppose this meeting is adjourned