00:01:11,219 S1: Get up and run. There you go. 00:01:15,099 S2: Good evening, and welcome to the Monday, June 15th, Maplewood City Council special meeting. Tonight is a budget meeting. I'm sure it's going to be absolutely scintillating. We're going to learn a lot from Mr. Roux. But tonight I wanted to ask Mr. Sable because I know I'm getting questions about what are we doing for the 250th birthday of the country? And so I thought, Mr. Sable can kind of talk a little bit more in detail. Council members, if you remember, at our last meeting, we talked about the 250 acts of neighborliness. We're going to have banners, flags. But Mr. Sable has some other details. So would you share that for the council and for everyone. 00:01:59,640 S3: Certainly. Thank you, Madam Mayor, and members of the Council. So it is the 250th celebration of the founding and independence of America. Our Declaration of Independence. This is nominally a federal holiday, right? This the the larger activities that you're you're going to see generally are going to occur at the federal level, at a kind of a large scale events that you can see through, kind of percolating up, primarily focused in Washington and Philadelphia, uh, and colonial states. And so when we get requests for what's happening here, so we have settled on choosing 250 acts of neighborliness that will start on the 4th of July. And we'll we're asking residents to do something nice for their neighbors or do something nice in their neighborhood. Uh, snap a picture, shoot a video, do something that captures that peace. Tell us their story. Uh, and then Joe Sheeran and our communications team are going to actually pull together all of those stories to kind of be capture, like a full video montage of all of the acts of service. And so what, we'll have like a little counter or a little ticker on the website to say, here's we you know, we're currently we're on our march up to 250 acts of neighborliness. And so what we have, once we get to that number, then we'll put together all of this in sort of a celebratory video that highlights all the great things that are happening in our neighborhoods, with neighbors to neighbors helping each other. Um, and so I don't know how long that will take, but we know that our faith community is very interested in this. Our service clubs have all asked to be part of this conversation as well, and it will also will do an important pitch, uh, at our National Night Out in August. So that kind of that first month will be really promotional efforts to get people to do something nice in their neighborhood. Hopefully it turns into something great that we can celebrate. I know the the spirit in the community is of one of giving, and so I think this will be a very easy thing for us to pull together. Uh, in terms of the day of the 4th of July, there is not going to be a fireworks display sponsored by the City of Maplewood, but we are ordering flags and things for our parks and so it will have a festive atmosphere. In addition, we've ordered banners for the community center and also changing our not only our monument sign in front of the community center, but we also have access to to a billboard that runs intermittently throughout. So we'll also say talk about Wright. City of Maplewood celebrates America's 250th. So if you're getting calls and you're getting emails about what's happening, um, what we're encouraging people to do is primarily look to the larger events because they can afford to do more things, and then also like have them start thinking about ways that they can contribute and give back to their neighborhood. Uh, it's it's going to be an incomplete answer. There are going to be people who want more. There are going to be people who want less. Uh, we are trying to navigate that sweet spot of something that is meaningful and impactful and gives, uh, appropriate celebration to our 250th anniversary. So with that, uh, mayor and council members happy to stand for any questions or do things for clarity. 00:05:01,069 S2: So question when will people start learning about this initiative? 00:05:05,990 S3: Uh, the banner signs have been ordered and will be hanging up on the, uh, the MCC, uh, later this week. Uh, and in terms of the 250th, uh, promotion, I will talk I will defer to Joe Sheeran, who is not here tonight. But, um, it has been our intent to have this rolled out because we do have about three weeks, so it'll be quick. 00:05:25,990 S2: Wonderful. Council members, any other questions? Okay, then let us do our pledge of Allegiance. 00:05:37,829 S1: 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. 00:05:55,050 S2: He's also stepping in for city clerk. Would you do the roll call for us? 00:05:59,490 S3: I will. Councilmember Villavicencio. 00:06:02,490 S1: Yes. 00:06:03,209 S3: Councilmember Lee. President. Councilmember. Chairman. Councilmember cave here. 00:06:08,290 S2: Mayor Abrams here as well. Thank you. Council members, we need to approve our agenda tonight. Would someone like to make that motion? So moved. Second moved. Seconded by Cabe. The motion to approve our agenda for tonight. Is there any other discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye, aye. Any opposed? We have no unfinished business tonight. We have one item tonight, and that is our 2027 budget. Uh, and, uh, Mr. Sable, did you want to kick this off? And then we'll turn it over to Joe Ruth. 00:06:42,810 S3: Um, certainly. Thank you. Mayor and council members and members of the public who are watching at home. This is, as you know, um, one of the things since I became city manager, I had wanted to expressly have more robust conversations around the budget document. It's, uh, it's arguably the most important document that we pulled together. And so last year, I believe we had, uh, 14 council meetings where we discussed or talked about the budget in some various form. Um, I think we are going to meet that number or potentially exceed it by one, um, this year. And so we wanted to give you was a little bit of deeper dive into the history of the budget. So, um, you know, we talk about often the this year and maybe the year before, but you lose track of because of the the world changes so fast and there's so much going on in Maplewood that I thought it'd be helpful to kind of have a five year look back. And so we've got some deep dive numbers into what we've seen over the last five years. And as you know, one of my, um, one of the things that the city council was really keen on was building out a ten year financial forecast. So looking back five years, looking ahead ten years really gives us that full spectrum. And so we're going to try to bring all of these together. And so we thought, um, just based on the way the schedules worked and our calendars worked, it was appropriate that we have a special meeting where we talked just about the budget. This and what we also will talk about tonight is some context for how we compare to our neighboring cities around us. And so making sure that, you know, that that what we do has a it's a high standard, it's a high rigorous standard. We try to find follow benchmarks and guidelines across not only best practices nationwide, but also to compare ourselves locally. And so, um, this is an informal conversation. It's supposed to provide context in depth because the budget document, at the end of the day, is a statement of what you value and what the community values. And so having a just a deep conversation around context, I think is really critically important. And Joe and I, he we asked where he should sit, if he should stand at the podium or if he should sit. So I'm going to defer to his judgment on how that works. But, uh. Uh, the other thing I'll say is I may jump in periodically. Um, just because to provide some context in there, some department heads in the room who can also answer very specific questions if you have them. 00:08:58,639 S2: Great. Thank you, Mr. Rube. 00:09:01,000 S4: Thank you, Mayor and Council. I'm glad we have a packed house for our 2027 budget discussion. Uh, we don't have any canines or any other special effects with us today, but, um, I'm happy to go through it with you. Uh, discuss it. Uh, take a deeper dive. If there's any questions, we'd be happy to look into it or answer them if we have them right off the bat. So, uh, some of these slides you'll see, uh, from previously this year or prior years similar just so you can follow along with exactly how we've done this process year after year and how we keep on expanding it. So, uh, part of the overview is that we want to keep in consideration of the council priorities. Uh, we look at city leadership for review and developing the budgets, our budget engagement, outreach, financial management plan, EDA, our dedicated budget website and then department presentations that will have towards the end of the year and then finally adopting our 2027 budget. 00:10:02,700 S4: With the City Council priorities, we as staff are happy to look into and discuss any priorities that the Council may have. Whether it's your idea or an idea from the community. We're happy to hear about it and listen and look into it. Whether it's public safety, parks, buildings, debt or any other thing. We're willing to take a deeper dive for our key stakeholders would be residents, businesses, council and staff, as well as our future residents and future businesses that we have coming in. We have quite a few residents that will be moving in with our different multifamily developments, as well as sentry ponds, so we want to keep in mind what their needs are as well. 00:10:48,200 S4: To get feedback from our stakeholders. We continue with our robust budget engagement. So this year, we added in a handout at our Spring Cleanup event that went out to over 200 residents. And it's a full size piece of paper on one side with the budget and the other with other events going on with the community. But, um, the important well, arguably the most important part is the budget side that has the the receipt of what taxpayers could expect for 2026. A breakout of how it's being allocated between their tax dollars are allocated between the county, the city, the schools and other districts, and then the QR code, giving them an opportunity to link up with our website to complete a survey and then our budget engagement calendar. 00:11:38,519 S2: Mr.. Sabel. 00:11:39,240 S1: Sorry. 00:11:39,879 S2: Councilmember cave. Oh, Councilmember cave. 00:11:41,799 S5: I just have a question. Did we get any of those surveys back from the QR code? 00:11:49,419 S4: Oh, I don't have the results for it, but communications would have that. Okay. 00:11:55,500 S1: Thank you. 00:11:56,539 S3: The survey is is live and ongoing so we can get this feedback comes in. We will incorporate it into it. So it is it is on our webpage. And so people can fill it out as they're going. So if they have an idea it's a it's not it doesn't have a fixed timeline. It doesn't turn off. 00:12:10,659 S5: But it's been. 00:12:11,340 S3: Used. It's been used. Yes, it has been used. And so what we tried to do with this page as as you all know, this is a your property tax bill is a complicated piece of information because it does include city. It does include school district. It includes the county and it includes other special taxing districts. So when you look at that page and you hold that document, you realize that the the city share is just a portion of your property tax bill. And so people often will get, uh, they'll get their property tax statement and they'll be frustrated and they'll see all of these increases. And then the city will only be a very specific portion of that. So we we tried to put that in the bottom, the other piece that we've put in there. We did the the budget engagement calendar that I want to at least reinforce. That doesn't include all of the presentations like the the it doesn't include this one, for example. And it does include the department presentations that you'll also hear. So and so we're there's it's an incomplete picture because there's actually there are more things on there. And then I'll just add the little bit of receipt that we put in there to provide a little bit of context. Okay. So if you're if your median value home tax bill is this this is what this per month price is. And so there are a lot of things that go into running an organization a very complex organization. So giving people some level of detail about what that looks like. And so what is a monthly bill for a police department or a fire department. So we have found that to be helpful. And so we will have these out at our upcoming celebrate summer events. We'll have them at our, you know, a touch of truck and Friday night fireworks and all of the things that are out there will have this budget document available. So you're going to see more and more people having this in their hands. Uh, and we also have um, well, I'm going to save the next slide because I know what it's going to say. But, um, we really are trying to be intentional about giving people opportunities to both learn more but also provide some feedback. 00:14:05,669 S2: Thank you. Mr.. 00:14:07,629 S4: Um, one other thing I'd like to just add on with the dollar bill. Um, I think it is helpful in that City Manager Sable mentioned it. It is several different components, but we still get phone calls asking like, well, why are you doing this? Or why does the school need this? The city of Maplewood does not have that information. We don't have any control over how the school is spending the money. The county is spending the money and that it's just one component of it. So all that does go back to, um, each of those entities and then on the TNT in the notices that they receive. It does give meeting dates when it comes, for it comes up to the TNT in that for final budget. So residents do have the opportunity to come talk to. Council here as those meetings allow. But then also to the county and schools. 00:14:57,889 S2: Councilmember cave. 00:14:58,889 S5: One more follow up question. Is there a possibility that we put a number for Ramsey County and a number for the school districts in the next time we put something out? So people, you know, it's an arrow. If you want to go to Ramsey County questions go here, you know, Maplewood, go to the QR code. You know, in the school just so they understand that the dollar bill isn't on Maplewood. 00:15:20,769 S2: I think that's a good idea. I don't think communications can easily do that. Okay. 00:15:27,769 S4: Thank you. Mayor and council. Uh, next item is our Maplewood living. 00:15:35,210 S1: Yes. 00:15:36,730 S4: There it is. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm looking at the wrong page on my desk. Um, the Maplewood living. So, uh, on here are screenshots of our May and June issues on the budget. Portions on May as a front cover. Part of the front cover on the left hand side of the blue, which includes that QR code, bringing them to our website. And then for the June issue, it provides additional information, um, similar information as previously with the dates, the dollar, excuse me, the receipt as well as the QR code. And then our dedicated budget website has the following information on it. And then you'll see at the top there's a purple little icon for fill out the survey. That's where our residents and businesses can go out and submit their thoughts. 00:16:25,789 S4: And then for the actual survey, this is what it looks like. It is active, but residents can go out and pick up to four options to indicate where their priorities are, and then if they want to add any other information, they can include that on this page. 00:16:44,450 S4: So leading practices when it comes to the budget. 00:16:49,289 S2: Mr. Sable. 00:16:50,409 S3: Um, I'm going to take this opportunity this time to see, to ask the council, is there anything else that we are that you want us to be at, or is there anything that in terms of engagement or outreach that we ought to try differently because you'll hear about it before we will? And so this is kind of an opportunity to just. Is there anything else that you would want us to kind of do in terms of outreach? 00:17:11,650 S2: Councilmember Lee? 00:17:12,650 S6: Thank you. Mayor. I think we've done you know, there's the more the merrier. And I'm thinking right now, we currently host all of our budget discussions here in the council chamber. I think it'd be interesting to see if we can bring these discussions to the community. So maybe perhaps hosting one over at Edgerton Elementary, maybe another one down in South Maplewood at the, you know, some kind of center down there. So I think that way. At Carver Elementary or something like that. So that was just a budget discussion and bringing the conversation to the community. I think that'll really bring. Hopefully he'll bring people out. And that way it's an opportunity for people to engage if they want to versus coming here. 00:17:46,160 S2: So just for for clarity, can you be a little bit more specific about it? Are you talking about actually conducting a council meeting outside of council chambers? Because then we have all of the technology issues. Uh, anytime you get more, you know, more than two of us together, then there's a quorum. And so it has to be posted, and then we it, you know, communications we've got, they would be responsible for figuring that out. So tell us a little bit more about how you actually envision that, recognizing that, you know, we've got the open meeting law that we have to follow also data practices. 00:18:27,039 S6: And so no, thank you for that. Mayor. I don't necessarily excuse me. I don't necessarily think it has to be a council meeting. It could just be a staff driven meeting where there is a budget meeting for the community so we can show up. There's events where we are going to just have I mean, we may show up. It's not that we intend to be there, but this is really just a community conversation in South Maplewood about budgeting, maybe run by our city manager, Mike Szabo, or other members of the finance team. So it's just really a community conversation. I don't necessarily think it needs to be a council meeting. This is just a conversation piece, and staff can certainly talk to our staff and to the community about what's important to the community members so they can share feedback at that location. And I think it'll be a great opportunity for our little display to for people to come in to have conversations and just drop in coins and showing community what's important for them. Okay. Yeah. 00:19:20,579 S2: Mr. Sable. 00:19:23,660 S3: Madam mayor and council members, Council member Lee, we can certainly look at that option and figure out a time and place. Um. 00:19:30,460 S2: Look, Let's hear what other people have to say. Did anyone have their butt? Councilmember Villavicencio is your. Maybe your. 00:19:37,400 S7: Yeah. My button wasn't working properly. Sorry. Um, I guess I was, I maybe I misunderstood the the question, but I thought we were discussing other places or events that we can have this discussion. And so I remember that at the fire station, Mister Joe had a wonderful display and discussed the budget that way with folks. And so I thought that's what we were talking about. And so I think there's a lot of places that we could do that. Like, I don't know if we have plans on doing that at like the Friday night fireworks or the other place I was thinking about is the, um, farm. Um, when they do, their farmers markets would be a good place to have a little booth at least once or twice this summer. 00:20:27,599 S2: Mr. Siebel or Mr. Rube, do you want to outline for us the number of places where the budget materials, the handout that you showed us, and then also that wonderful game, uh, dropping the coins into different slots so that people can identify what their priorities are. And then we record that, uh, where are the places that we already have, uh, where on our schedule, where we are going to be speaking about and giving an opportunity to the community to talk about the budget? 00:21:01,140 S4: Yes, mayor and council. Thank you. Um, at this point, we have two external engagements with, uh, just basically a little booth from the finance department. Um, the first one is July 8th at celebrate Summer, and the other one is September 18th at the Friday night fireworks. Um, in addition to that, we didn't we're open to conversations like so at the spring cleanup event, when we handed out the flyer, if people were waiting in line, they had the opportunity to ask us questions, which? Which is just another opportunity to put our faces in front of them and open up that. Potential conversation. 00:21:39,329 S2: Mr. Sobel, can you add anything else to that? 00:21:42,650 S3: Madam mayor, members of the council, we're certainly happy to entertain more options. Right. I understand the desire is for more engagement and more touches, I think. The other thing I will say is that the flyer regarding the budget, we will also include in our national layout packets that we give to those neighbourhood groups. So, you know, every, every party will get a handful of flyers. And so and as we go vehicle, the vehicle will be equipped to have kind of a quick handout for folks to talk about that as well. So um, you know, we'll we'll certainly look at um, I mean, I have no problem setting up a booth on the for a farmers market at the farm or finding an opportunity to potentially add more at the Carver Elementary. It's just, um, it's it's just a function of time and space. And so as long as we have time and space, we can pull those off. 00:22:33,829 S1: Okay. 00:22:34,430 S2: Councilmember cave, your thoughts on it? 00:22:37,829 S5: On, on. I'm sorry. More. Sure. The more the merrier. Um, all the ideas are good. I mean, I like going down to Carver. I think we should eventually have a city council meeting down at Carver. Um, because the South really needs that. And this could be a possibility to do both. And if we can't, then I think, um, chambers idea of just doing a, you know, staff meeting down there just so people can get together. I think you'd pull more people if you did a city council meeting down there. Um, and then had a workshop prior with the budget. Um, I just think that that pulls more people and but if we have to do the other one, I'm good for that too. 00:23:17,630 S2: And that's what the goal is, is how do we get more people out? My concern is would people without being celebrate summer or the fireworks or National Night Out, would people come to just simply talk about the budget? Uh, I. 00:23:35,529 S5: I don't think so. That's why I think. No. Yeah. I think if you did something with Carver, you definitely want to tie in the ponds and the police firing range. 00:23:46,250 S2: Kathleen, what are your thoughts? I agree with Rebecca. Okay. Councilmember Lee. 00:23:54,130 S1: I just want to say. 00:23:55,329 S6: I mean, this is something we've never done before. Um, budget numbers is something. Not everyone. I mean, it's definitely not something for everyone. So I think it's something interesting that we can try. It might not work out. We might get two people that shows up. But then I think that will be a learning opportunity for our staff and for us to really understand what is important for people. So I think trying something new, it doesn't hurt at all. Well. 00:24:16,410 S2: I think you kind of got the read from the council. Oh. 00:24:20,529 S7: Council member oh, that's okay. Maybe my question or comment is for another moment. But just to add on to what Councilmember Lee said, that I think, um, you know, I was at a actually at a beacon event where they were talking about their budget and the way that they did. It was really interesting. They kind of did kind of a a 101 on how a budget operates. And they did it where people were dressed up as buckets and each person had a different color bucket. And they explained, like, this is the blue bucket and this has this. So, I mean, I don't know, maybe not this year because that would probably take some planning, but maybe in the future something to kind of um, because, yeah, not everybody gets, uh, uh, you know, financial, um, education. So um, and my other comment was if we could talk about the website a little bit or the survey, um, I just tried it. And you have to do all four to be able to, to submit. And I thought that we had talked before about maybe allowing people, if they only wanted to do 1 or 2, if possible. And then my other comment about the survey is it's just it's just the two questions. I mean, I'm wondering if there's um, because like, okay, you have the four, you, you pick four of the different categories. And then a general question of what do you want the policy makers to, um, to know? Um, you know, once again, if we if I'm a person that doesn't have a lot of financial education, I don't know what to say. So maybe if there's some, like, a little bit more, um, or another, maybe 1 or 2 multiple choice type of questions to give people an idea. 00:26:09,809 S2: Could you suggest what those questions would be rather than I mean, you know, we can't have our staff just guessing. Well, I think some more direction would be helpful. Yeah. 00:26:19,609 S7: If I had some time. I can't come out of it right off the top of my head. But I would love to work with Joe or whomever to do that. 00:26:28,599 S5: Okay. It just this just brought me up and I could be we could be talking about this later. But on the budget survey, since we're doing surveys, I'm really big at getting as much bang for the buck. And if you have somebody filling out a survey, um, is there a way we can even have. I know it's a budget, but it's a budget topic is our, um, the I'm sorry, the tax that we were trying to get. Yes. Is there a way we can throw that also in there for people to say, hey, you know, there is a possibility of this. Are you interested? Is this an interest for you or, you know, nothing too in-depth but putting some type of questions about that, because I really think we need to hit on people, not just who went to the community center, which is a great pick. But if we get this out there and somebody's going to fill it out, if you don't have it super long, they're going to answer the questions truthfully, Mr. Sable. 00:27:21,460 S2: Your thoughts? 00:27:22,859 S3: Mayor and council members. We can certainly expand that survey option. I think this is the one of the benefits of having, um, as much time as we have, because right there really to create two key critical dates. Uh, tongue twister. Uh, one is in September, which is the setting of the date for the preliminary levy. And the other is the final vote in December. And so I think with this being in middle of June, I mean, I do think we have a time to test out and and evolve because this is I will say, you know, this is probably the most robust budget conversations we've had as a community in the city's history. So, like, we can keep trying. We there is we can keep tweaking until we get it correct. And so I have no problem sort of expanding this or including other topics. We're not We're not locked into one way of thinking on this one. 00:28:21,160 S2: Councilmember Lee. 00:28:22,279 S6: Thank you. Mayor. Something I've just been thinking a lot about, too is as we're talking about the survey. I agree with both of what you both have said, but I think when we look at this survey, there's no number that I can put these things to. So if we can maybe mention, if it makes sense to mention what our levy is, how much our total is. So when we think about this like, oh, it's $32 million, how does that if I were to allocate that, how would I allocate that? Or do we maybe just put a dollar up there and say, if you had a dollar, how would you allocate it to these departments? So that way there's a number to how people are putting in their places. 00:28:52,559 S1: Which I think. 00:28:53,000 S2: Is very similar to what Mr. Rube did with his game, where he drops, you know, people can pick where the coin, what their priorities are. So I think we're already accomplishing that. But I like the idea of maybe expanding it. You have to be careful with surveys, because if people believe that it is going to take them 20 minutes. They are less inclined to engage in a survey. So there is a sweet spot, and we will trust that staff can figure out what that sweet spot is, where we can get some meaningful input from our residents, and not scare anyone away from yet. One more survey, Mr. Sabel. 00:29:38,099 S3: Um, and this may be a response that Mr. Roop wants to answer, but I think that one of the things that when you have the the, you know, you have ten chips and you have six things to choose from. One of the comments that people often make is, well, this is really hard to decide. Like, I like all of these things. They're all important. And so it's that, um, the, the value is sort of understanding the trade off that we cannot do everything that the community wants and that you are faced with really hard choices at the end of the year. And so part of what helps make that decision a little bit easier is are all of these things that we're doing that lead up to that hour. I think our goal at the end of the day is to by the time we reach the middle of December, you will have had every possible question answered. And unfortunately, we just don't know what those questions are today. But they will continue with the conversations. We'll continue. The refinement of the budget will continue until we get to the end. But, um, you know, it is a difficult decision ultimately because, um, someone's going to be disappointed in every choice you make. 00:30:43,599 S1: Uh, that's very true. 00:30:44,559 S3: Fortunately, uh, and that's why we work as staff to give you as many as much information to at least explain it in a way that makes sense to you. 00:30:53,160 S2: Thank you, Mr. Rubio. I'll turn it back over to you. 00:30:55,799 S4: Thank you. I'll just mention with that, uh, coin game, I think we could really incorporate other departments in there to host events like community development, or maybe it or that, just because ultimately, like the managers table said, they have the six and then they're looking for the extra four. What we've noticed is if we're at the fire station. There you go. Yeah. This is a nice fire station, and they put it towards fire. If we're at parks, they put it in the park, so maybe it will have their own event coming up. 00:31:27,670 S2: Okay. 00:31:28,869 S1: Okay. I really. 00:31:31,390 S5: Like zip. 00:31:31,910 S1: Line. That's true. 00:31:34,309 S4: So leaving practices with the budget process. So as City Manager Steve Walter brought up the financial management plan that we had our consultants at Ella's help us with last year, um, broke down quite a bit of information. Looking at several different funds. Um, the biggest one that is, uh, dependent on the tax levy is the general fund, which is our day to day operations for most of the public safety, community development, finance, admin, public works in that. So, um, these spreadsheets are these are just snapshots of our spreadsheets that they use, but it captures revenues and expenditures for many different areas. General fund our debt funds, EDA capital projects, fleet I.T., ambulance fund, other utility funds. Um, and then it also factors in the growth of the potential growth of the community and what's to be expected, and then special levies that might be needed for capital projects. So here's another section of that looking at other financing sources. And then this is kind of where it ties together our debt and special levies. 00:32:53,970 S3: Um, those last three slides, um, are purposefully, uh, hard to read because it is it sort of indicates like how big of a operation this is. So this is an opportunity just to thank Joe and his staff for, um, putting the effort into, you know, not only is it quality accounting, but it's quality forecasting. And we have a wonderful partner in Elas who helps us think through. You know, if we add 2000 residents in the, uh, Pond's development or, you know, 900 more people, what will that mean for service? When will we need potentially another police officer? When will we potentially need a different service model down there? How much more parkland are we going to need to maintain and what does that look like. And there's a lot of factors that go into this. And so um, this is not meant to overwhelm you, but it is just sort of intended to show that it's we try to think about everything. Uh, invariably we'll get some things wrong, but we'll get many of them right, because it's a kind of a rigorous process. And we do rely on our auditors and our financial advisors and, uh, everybody that plays a role in the financing. So, um, you don't have to read every number, but I know that Joe Rupe does. 00:34:08,690 S2: Councilmember Cave. 00:34:09,969 S5: Yes. Just a question on on these slides, Joe. Um, what is something when we are looking at the budget that is kind of our outliers going to be this year. Is there anything that's going to stick out to, I mean, that we should see see that we don't see every year in for the budget like, you know, fleet is there going to be, you know, some building that needs repair. Is there something in 2026 that we're going to be looking at that we don't normally do? 00:34:37,809 S4: Sure. Thank you, mayor and council. Um, when it comes to revenue. So there's some different some revenues that will be anticipating. Oh, we didn't necessarily budgeted for because we weren't anticipating with that. Um, but some of that would be like building permits when we have some of the projects coming forward. So we do our best guess, but it's hard to know what's coming exactly in one. Um, so there's some fluctuation can be some fluctuation there when it comes to expenditures for the most part. Um, I'm not I can't think of anything major coming up that's not already part of the CIP process. We don't like to do that because we don't want to be surprised on our end when it comes to the funding, but we don't want council to have to come up with something unless it's an emergency need. So we do take that our five year capital improvement plan to heart, and we have to plan these things out. We want to put things out as we continue to grow on our processes. We want to take a look, even ten years out for capital improvement, where we're at with our equipment, where we're at with our buildings. We won't necessarily forecast that in the full document, but we might bump up some things that are year 6 or 7 to year five. So it's on council's radar a little bit quicker, but I'm not aware of anything that's outside of the normal or something that you haven't seen yet. We don't like to surprise. 00:35:56,269 S5: No, I know you brought up a great idea, though. The capital improvement for buildings. I know that's something that we hadn't planned prior. We didn't have all that. So is that going to be? How do you know that's going to be something that we're going to have to talk to our constituents about. That's an expense we have to put in there for. And where is that going to come in the plan. 00:36:16,500 S4: That's in slide 24 and 25. No, that's later on in the presentation. But yes. Oh okay. All right. Thanks. Okay. 00:36:24,539 S1: Thank you. 00:36:28,300 S4: Oh I just would like to mention as well you can see some of the gray blue lines. Um, as we take a look towards the future. Always trying to anticipate what's to come. Um, we have different positions that are coming on board within the city that we're anticipating. They're not approved yet by council. With that and other changes that might come through. So we take a look at our prior years and then look towards the future. 00:36:55,019 S4: For EDA budget. Um, I love bringing this up and having this conversation, especially with EDA, because they like the dedicated levy that council approved last year for the 636,000. This is something that not every city does, and this is something that our council knew, as council members put into place to really help our community grow and develop. It's just a huge commitment by council to reinvest in what we have in our community and hopefully expand on it. So on this slide, you'll see our revenues for the EDA and that dedicated levy for 636,000. Um, I want to point out under the other category and with the local, um, affordable housing aid, uh, 587,000 is what we're anticipating for 2026. And then on this next page, you'll see in 2027 under capital outlay, where that's being spent under the 2026 budget request, we have $221,510 00:37:58,280 S4: for capital that is based off of the prior year. So that would be a funding from 2025 or aid that we received in 25. So it's off by a little bit. Um, but it's hard to spend that money right away. So we do have it and carry it over to the prior year or to the next year. 00:38:15,019 S2: Mr. Sable? 00:38:15,820 S3: Yeah. Thank you, mayor and council member. So one of the joys of the legislature, when they approve the local affordable housing aid, is they put a spending cap. You had to spend the money. Uh, and looking at this, I believe it was within four years of getting the local affordable housing aid. And what what we have learned over time is that, uh, cities that get their act together and build programs and build services and spend that money often get a second bite at the apple. So if a city doesn't spend it within four years, it goes back into the fund. We might be able to access those. And so that's why the partnership with habitat for humanity is really important. That's why the things that we have done with the EDA and the work that you did as commissioners to do a strategic plan also then makes it easier for us to to use that local affordable housing aid money. And so, uh, and also just tie in the the opportunity to do housing rehab loan programs comes out of that capital outlay. So we anticipate spending the money more quickly. Um, a it's it belongs in the community and number and B, uh, there's a potential for us to get a second round of additional funding if cities don't spend it. So we're trying to be aggressive and be smart and. 00:39:24,440 S2: And leverage the funds really to maximize them for our community. I think that's great. Mr.. 00:39:30,639 S4: Rob, thank you. Um, so looking at some uncertainties that we have when we look at the budget process, so federal government, state government, local government, uh, county and then ultimately that can trickle down to the local government for the city of Maplewood. So we don't know what's happening all the time at the feds with the feds are at the state level. So we have to be cautious of that. Um, local government aid, uh, taking a look at that and I'll get into that slide next. And inflationary impacts the Economic Development Authority and the tax increment financing. So we do have the many opportunities when it comes to TIF um within the pooling and our opportunities to expand and, um, continue growth in the community for local government aid in 2026, we are receiving just under $2.1 million. Um, local government aid is something that could potentially go away at some point or decrease. We don't want it to. Um, but it is one of those things that's very helpful to the city because of that. And like I said, some of the uncertainties and that we don't want to use that for operational expenses, we currently are using part of it for operations to help offset the ambulance fund. Um, however, the idea would be to use it for one time. Capital needs improvements. It could be between buildings, vehicles, parks and many different things. Just if that funding goes away, we might have to alter something that we purchase big capital items for the city, but we don't want to use it for operations. 00:41:18,210 S4: I will say with the local government aid as well, it's one of those things that if we didn't have that and we wanted to buy a piece of equipment that could be potentially a half $1,000,000 million. If we didn't get this local government aid, we might not get that piece of equipment, or we'd have to issue debt if it's something that we really needed. Fiscal disparities that has increased for the most part over the last ten years, which is good, $4.6 million, is the allocation for 2026. The nice thing about this is that it helps offset the levy. So our budget and you take that and what the levy would be, um, remove the fiscal disparities and that's what's allocated. So all of this directly does impact our residents and businesses. 00:42:04,550 S4: For fund balance policy. Our fund balance policy is that we like to have a minimum of 41.67% and a desired level of 50% of our general fund operating expenditures of the 41.67 is not just the number pull out of anywhere, it's five months out of the year. But ideally we like to be closer to six months of expenses. Part of the reason that we need to have something so high is just in case something does happen. If some of our aid does fall through, the emergency comes through and it's above and beyond what we have. Um, but also because our property taxes come in at different points throughout the year, so we don't get property taxes January through May. That's when they're collecting it from the residents. And then the city gets our first disbursement in June, so we don't have any of the tax levy coming in for those first five months. So we have to plan accordingly and make sure that we have the cash on hand to cover our costs. 00:43:07,530 S2: Councilmember Lee. 00:43:09,449 S6: Thank you. Mayor. Just out of curiosity, how do we stand in terms of our fund balance compared to a lot of other cities around us? I think often about, you know, how do we best use our residents tax dollars? I mean, we have too much in there. You know what? What are some of the possibilities? I know we have to have at least six months is a good number, but what does that look like? 00:43:29,050 S4: Yes. Thank you, mayor and council. I don't have a clear idea, but I can take a look at how we compare to other cities. Um, is this because I think Maplewood is unique now? But it is something that we do take a look at and we keep in consideration. So at the end of 2024, we are at actually at 69.3%. So it is on the high side. However that is looking at 2024. once you jump into 2025, with the expenditures being higher, it actually drops down closer to 63%. So it each year it kind of it can lower depending on what's going on. Part of the reason why I did increase significantly over a few years was the number of building permits that we had coming in, things that we weren't anticipating. And we had boom, uh, with the, uh, hail storm that came through and all the permits that came through for the new roofs, and that really threw the revenues way over expectations. And then also due to vacancies. So our expenditures have come in under budget quite a bit for the last few years. Part of that is vacancy is when you have a bigger department like police and fire. There's potential for turnover, retirements or that. And at that point it drops down those expenditures. And then with the city like ours, Maple wood, where our employees generally like to stay here, they seem to be happy with the culture and where they work. So we end up having people that are here for 20, 30 years, they retire and we might have a handful of them. The new people coming in are making significantly less. So that does contribute towards the fund balance increases as well. But it is something that we can take a look at where we're at with that. In the past, we have done allocations out of the general fund reserves and that has gone to parks, fleet, other capital areas of buildings and stuff like that. Not a whole lot, but it has been allocated out in the past. 00:45:32,369 S6: I just want to say thanks for explaining that and thanks for trying in the hailstorm component. As much as I love the revenue, we don't want any more hailstorms though. 00:45:41,210 S2: Mr. Sable. 00:45:42,610 S3: Thank you, mayor and council members. I was an interesting question that you asked. I, I generally try to know a lot about what's going on in neighboring cities just to make sure that we're benchmarked. And so I and staff are laughing because I have this compulsion with numbers and comparisons. And so, um, so I don't know the answer to what the fund balance is of Peer City, so I'm intrigued. I can't wait to go dig a little bit deeper into that, so I appreciate that. The second piece I will say is when we get our audit findings report in the next couple of meetings, we will have a final number of what that fund balance, general fund balance is as a percentage. And what we'll present to you is some options of what would you like to do? If there is any number above 50%, what would you like to do? And so it could be um, bolstering the the capital fund. It could be transferring to the EDA to help with acquisitions of strategic properties. And so, uh, we want to make sure that what we collect gets used and what we collect gets used. Well. And if there is a for various reasons in increment, how do we convert that into the best public good. And so that's a conversation you all will have in the next three meetings. 00:46:51,059 S2: Mr. Rube. 00:46:51,980 S4: Thank you. 00:46:54,940 S4: Each year, the city goes through a rating process generally has been with S&P. The last one was dated June 18th of 2025. We'll have one in July of 2026. As of 2025, um, they take a look at all the city's finances. What's going on in our community. And that and then they kind of rate us to see how we are. It's basically a credit rating for the city. Um, so last year they affirmed our double A+ rating, which is second highest. It's very, very good. Um, and then for our outlook, it's a stable outlook. Um, and that we're well positioned for the future and that. So it's great to have that. Ultimately we love a AA. But a double AA with the stable outlook is wonderful. Um, when we look at the downside scenario, it really has to do with the economy, something that we can't necessarily control. Um, and then if we're the economy's bad and we have weak revenue performances based off of building permits or that that could have an impact on it, as well as our reverse reserve balances. So one of the things that they do take a look at are our fund balances. And they see that they are healthy or less of a risk because we have the ability to cash flow and take care of the needs of the city on the upside. Um, as as you're aware, council made it a priority to have our debt under $50 million, and several years back it was over $80 million. So I'll touch base a little bit more towards the end of the slides. But, um, projected to be around $47 million at the end of this year. Um, so it's great. We've made huge progress on it. So that's one major impact as well as the, um, comparing us to other cities comparable to our site and our economic metrics and that so, um, things like any new development, redevelopment really does help the city improve and keep that stable. Outlook. 00:48:53,179 S4: Speaking of outlook for 2026, we have two major things coming in. So Saint John's Hospital, their expansion. That's going to be huge for Maplewood, not just because of the building permit revenue, but bringing people into the community. Um, it gives our businesses opportunities to expand. Um, it's brings more employees and people into the city that are looking for homes. Um, the potential of other new development in that area, which would be great, as well as sentry ponds with over 200 homes coming in. Um, there's also building permit revenue with that. But ultimately the tax levy is now allocated between an additional 200 plus homes. Um, so that will really, um, that will help. And it'll take a while to get that onto the tax rolls because they have to build it and it takes a few years to get them fully taxed and on the rolls. But eventually we'll start seeing that trickle in. And then on the right side of the screen is just a snapshot of our website. And then the different projects. And if any residents or businesses want to kind of see what's going on with our community and economic development department, there are links here that can explain some of those projects that are going on. 00:50:12,719 S4: Taking a look at 2026 tax levy increases. So as you'll see here where Maple is highlighted at 7.9%. So we're not even we're about at the halfway mark. So we're doing well. Um, and then comparing the 22 to 26 levies within the other cities, I'm sorry. The highlighted box, uh, moved on me, but, um, so that's not our city, but, uh, for Maplewood, uh, we're at 40.9% increase over that five year period, so. Um, still doing well? Uh, we're definitely not on the higher side. 00:50:52,869 S4: Of our tax rate. Um, this is kind of based off of how, um, what our levy is at and what is charged back to residents. So, um, it ultimately affects the tax burden on each property. So it's the property's tax capacity multiplied by our rate. So 50% ends up being what their tax bill is. So Maplewood right now towards the higher side and over 50%. There are other cities in the county that are higher. Um, but that's one of those areas that once our tax capacity and the value of our properties go up and Maplewood, um, that number should start declining. 00:51:32,429 S2: Mister Sabel. 00:51:33,590 S3: Uh, thank you, mayor and council members. So as as we as, um, finance director Ruben, I sort of forecast out and talk through this. we anticipate that number to go down, uh, optimistically as soon as next year, but certainly by 2028 and 2029, we would expect the rate to continue to decline. Uh, because one of the factors that drove up, um, is the value is the loss in commercial valuation. And so as the shift has happened, as commercial values have became less valuable, let's shift it to the homeowners. And so there's this, uh, complicated formula around rates that happens. And so as we continue to grow and develop more, we expect the tax rate to go down in the upcoming years. 00:52:14,010 S2: Councilmember Lee, thank you. 00:52:15,210 S6: Mayor. Uh, I know we have a ten year history here. Has there ever been a time before 2017 that was higher than this at all? Because I assume that everyone was in office. Property value at that time was probably different. 00:52:28,610 S4: Thank you, mayor and Council. I'm not aware of anything, looking back that we've ever been this high. 00:52:34,010 S6: Okay. Thank you. 00:52:41,070 S4: These next few slides are taking a look at the budget to actual. Um, they're not crazy exciting slides, but, uh, one of the things I'd like to point out with them is that you'll see if budget to actual for each of these departments, they're pretty close to where they are budgeted. Um, very few of them are over budget, but, um, yeah, that's 2022. Here's 2023. Again, you'll see that it's all pretty comparable. 2024 and then 2025. Um, the nice thing is, is what we're budgeting for. We are spending, um, and we're just accurately budgeting budgeting for our departments. This slide is a whole lot of information. Um, it's the department increases by year. So you'll be able to see each each year their budget and then the increase from one year to the next. Um, I'll point out because he's my boss, city manager, sales department actually decreased over a couple of those years, um, 7% in one year and 19% another year. So. 00:53:46,570 S2: Mr. Sable. 00:53:47,489 S3: Um, thank you, mayor and council member as well. While I appreciate the effort, um, the the largely the determining factor of that decrease was the shift in, um, the closure of the DMV. So there's nothing that I have contributed or did that, uh, impacted that, in fact, that the main cause of that was the shift in the service model. But I what I want to showcase and this is, um, this is trying to provide some context for history. The largest expenditures that we have in the, in the city are generally police, fire, EMS and public works. We have seen those trends over time that they're they're natural drivers. And I think the one thing I'll say is you've seen value in those expenditures. And so the the police department is highly regarded. And I, I'm going to argue the best run in Ramsey County. I, I'm hard pressed to name one. That's that would be better than us and I and I say that proudly and then so that it's a testament to public safety director Birdman. And I will say, you know, if, if, if chief mandatory here. Right. The fire EMS service is outstanding and they've demonstrated progress towards whether it's response times or the sophisticated level of adding whole blood. And so, um, this is a big, complicated chart from 2022 to 2026, but it shows that there's a pretty consistent pattern of where departments are and what their increases were and what that means. And but also where you've made investments, there's been increases in the quality of service. And so I think it's important for the community to see that this is there is a pattern of consistency and there's also a pattern of quality. And so, uh, I think it's helpful to when you're, when you're starting a big budget process that you actually go back and look and say, okay, it's been a long five years coming out of Covid, coming out of 2022 and through 26 and 27. So, um, there are real numbers. There are real impacts on the community, but it's also real quality service delivery to the residents. So, um, feel free to use this, refer to it back, ask questions when the departments come back to their presentations and have these. I think this is a helpful slide and piece of information that, um, gives some historical context. 00:55:59,940 S2: Thank you, Mr. Rob. 00:56:01,420 S1: Thank you. 00:56:03,579 S4: This next slide shows the increase from 22 to 2026. So over that five year period you see where each department landed. Um, I'll highlight on fire just because they are at a 72% increase. Um, a big the biggest portion of that has to do with the investment in that department and adding additional firefighters over the years. So, um, there's an explanation for any and all of this. So if there's any questions on it. But I just wanted to highlight that 72%. 00:56:36,519 S4: This next slide is just a whole bunch of pies. Um, so you can take a look at between 2022 and 2026 where the budget is allocated. Um, when it comes to a city manager, stable public safety, they have the biggest piece of the pie between fire and police from 2020 to being at 56% up to 2026, being at 60% of the budget. So, um, it's an investment into the community, the safety and security of our residents and businesses. And we can see that that investment here. 00:57:14,360 S4: Taking a look at the ambulance fund, um, you can see here the budget to actual over the five year period. Um, and actually the budget for 2026 without actuals at this point, um, you can see that for the most part, it's, uh, it's been pretty close. We've had a couple of years where we've been under budget, which has been good. When it comes to the expenditure side of things, um, and when it comes to the ambulance fund, as we move into the final report from our auditors, we'll have additional conversations about the ambulance fund and where it's at, where we're looking to go with it. And that's providing council some options. It's ultimately rolling into the general fund. Council will have to make some decisions on that. But we continue to look at that and monitor it closely. 00:58:04,860 S2: Mr. Sable. 00:58:05,659 S3: Yeah. Thank you, mayor and council members. So when I started, uh, two plus years ago, the ambulance fund was the number one conversation that we had. It was it it was it was a concern. And it was a fair concern. And it was like we had used some public safety aid. We had used some local government aid. We had done some, um, one time fixes to try to fix a structural problem. And we really sat down. And with your leadership really said, okay. This is a service that's important. Let's find a way out of it. Uh, I will say, generally speaking, I no longer lose sleep over the ambulance fund. I think we have a path forward. It might not be solved exactly this year, but it's not something that I worry about to the same extent. I worry about other things. And so I think we've taken a kind of a slow, methodical approach to kind of reworking this ambulance fund problem and just know that the, uh, the auditor's kind of recommendation is we can keep the accounting on the back end the same as we do today. Uh, but the rolling it into the general fund is probably the right approach. And that's going to be their recommendation. So you'll see that in a couple of weeks. But um, the other thing I'll say is that as the community continues to shift, um, our, you know, we'll continue to advocate for higher reimbursements, rates, rates for Medicare and Medicaid, uh, and we'll continue to support, you know, look at our fees for private pay insurance. You know they in alignment. And so we were looking at all of our options including, you know, potentially having conversations at the state level about expanding the map to potentially include a different service area that might have a different type of payer mix. Um, not that I want to be in the insurance business, but we're in the insurance business because we often build them. And so it's a it's an important conversation. And then, um, you know, public Safety Director Bierman and Chief Mander are our good partners in thinking through this, what this means. But, uh, I'm confident in saying that I'm less worried about the ambulance fund than I would have been than I was two years ago. 01:00:07,179 S2: Can you remind the council how long it's been since the federal government has increased the reimbursement rates? 01:00:13,780 S1: Uh, well, that was the. 01:00:15,739 S2: That's the way you characterize it. 01:00:17,019 S3: Yeah. Thank you. Mayor and council members. I don't know the exact year, but I know that President Clinton was president, so it would have been pre 2000. 01:00:23,900 S2: And is there any discussion And the national on the federal level concerning these reimbursement rates, because this is something that is shared by every other city that has an ambulance service. 01:00:41,130 S3: Um, thank you, mayor and council members. The short answer is we always try to advocate on behalf of, uh, enhancing the reimbursement rate for transport. Um, just to give you a sense of order of magnitude, you know, uh, approximately $2,200 per call to go out to a response that includes all of the costs of a fire, EMS, the the staffing, the ambulance, the equipment, the vehicles, the cost of what it takes to go. Uh, the reimbursement for Medicaid is around $600, $630. And so, um, we will continue to try to advocate for, for more money. The other thing that I think is also fairly interesting is, uh, the state of Minnesota is looking at a model to provide an extra payment if we provide an enhanced care prior to transport. And so that would be, uh, we are considered to be one of the pilot communities for that, assuming it would pass the legislature, which may or may or may not happen. And we'll know and quite honestly, we'll know more in January. 01:01:44,309 S2: Thank you for that, mister Rube. 01:01:47,030 S4: Thank you. So a topic of conversation pass as we take a look at the general fund budget is our internal service charges, which are chargebacks to the general fund to fund, um, funds like the IT fund and our benefits fund and all that. So for our IT fund, you can see here the last four years of budget to actual as well as the 2026 budget. Um, and the key thing to highlight with this is just as we keep on moving forward with technology, there's more and more technology that is helping the city run efficiently and in a secure fashion. And it's not cheap. It comes at a pretty hefty price tag. And this is all things that counsel you'll see from the different purchases that are made throughout the year, whether it's software or new equipment, and that a lot of that all runs through the IT fund. Um, simple things like cybersecurity. You used to be able to have something a little bit more basic. Now it has to be a lot more robust. Um, but it's also expensive to have cybersecurity too. 01:02:58,369 S4: So now I'd like to move on to some of our capital. So this is one area that we've talked about in the past. Last year we did a city building tour. Um, I highlighted on this page our five excuse me, um, buildings that we saw last last summer, I believe it was highlighting the year that they were built and the significant renovations that they have seen. Um, as you can see, there's hasn't been major um, and reinvestment back into any of our facilities. Wanted to highlight the community center built in 1993. We've done some updates to it, but as you're aware, it needs close to or over $20 million in repairs. Part of the problem is that we haven't had the funding set aside over the years to make sure that we're taking care of these facilities, and it's something that we want to make sure is on council's radar. So we can take a look at this in the future. Um, so all of these. Yep. I think all of them we saw last year. And this next slide, uh, highlights our North and fire Station South fire stations, which are our two newer buildings, our Wakefield building newer, and then our park maintenance building. So, um, unfortunately, we are not putting funds away for any of these buildings at this point. So if they need any major renovations, we either have to issue debt or defer those to another year. and every time we defer it, it just costs a little bit more. Um, and we don't have a dedicated, uh, capital replacement or building replacement fund. Uh, when it comes to these higher level capital expenditures. Um, with that, each year. 01:04:41,659 S2: I was going to ask the question, you know, uh. 01:04:46,380 S2: We have we run a pretty tight budget. I know every year that I can remember back in planning for budgets, we've already started. We've always started with a 0% increase. Uh, there are many costs that increase that we have absolutely no control over. Uh, what would it take? I know during my time here, we have done, uh, you know, our asset management plan so that we know what our assets are. We know the replacement schedules. Uh, so we have done those kinds of Pre-planning things in order to make sure that we are thinking ahead to the future. Uh, you know, we know that the park maintenance building, we know that the public works building, their aging facilities. Um, what would it look like to include a dedicated capital replacement fund? Uh, to anticipate those buildings? You know, it's, uh. 01:05:51,199 S2: What would it take to do that? 01:05:52,679 S4: Thank you. Mayor. Council. Um, I don't have all the answers on that. So that's something that we can take a look at. Um, even from what I've seen anywhere between on the low side, 2 to 3% upwards to 6 or 7% year, setting those funds aside for major capital repairs, whether it's a roof rate HVAC system to also planning for replacement of those buildings. So when you're looking at, uh, $20 million for repairs on the community center, or upwards of $50 million for a new building. That's setting aside quite a lot of funds in order to prepare for that and not issue debt for it. As we take a look at the community center, and it's been the council's priority not to put that fully on deck because it will be a huge financial impact to the residents. Um, the only other way is to pay by cash or if we have the local option, uh, or, excuse me, local sales tax in place to help offset that. So, um, it's something that I think we could look at internally, but then also, uh, get assistance from external sources and consultants that have the expertise and the knowledge to help us plan for the future. None of this. It's not easy. And but at some point, we have to start taking a look at how we can set funding aside. 01:07:11,380 S2: Um, I'd like to put that into our discussions in the future as we continue to develop this budget. Uh, you know, this was the first time after the legislature did the moratorium on the local option sales tax. I've talked to other mayors. Some of the I think there were 36 other cities that had, you know, seized this moment. This is the first time since the legislature had lifted that moratorium and opened that up as an opportunity to look at funding for the future, for things that our cities need. And so it's I think what we learned is that it takes longer at the legislature. I think that's what Councilmember Villavicencio said the last time. Don't expect it to happen the first time or something like that. Uh, but I think we need to have other discussions because we there aren't a whole lot of options. Uh, and so I think we I would like to include that in the discussion that we're going to have about this budget, because we can't count on that. We will try again. I think we've all decided that in 2027. But without that. What are some other options? Because we do need to do planning for some of these. You know, we're a first ring suburb and. 01:08:35,140 S2: We need to be planning for that. So anyway, those are my thoughts. 01:08:39,180 S4: Thank you mayor. Sure. 01:08:41,100 S2: Mr. Sable, did you want to say something? 01:08:44,380 S3: I thank you, mayor and council members. This is one of those issues that is really complicated and hard because, um, there is not enough money in tax capacity to play catch up to what has been deferred in a lot of cases. And so I having worked in a facilities department for Hennepin County, I know this work intimately. And there's no there is no winning and there's no amount of money that you is sufficient. You don't have to pay for cash for everything. Some things you should borrow money for if they're going to last over a 20 year period. And so, uh, there's no perfect answer. And so there's, uh, but I will say that, um, there is an opportunity to not repeat past mistakes. And mistakes is the wrong word. But like a past practice was to not put set aside some money. But we know that the fire station is going to need new mechanical equipment in ten, in 15 to 20 years. We know that the South Fire Station is going to need a upgrade of their mechanical systems in probably eight years, just to keep it operating fully. So, uh, I'm a big believer in you don't have to repeat past practice. You can just say, you know what? Going forward in these two buildings, we're going to start to plan ahead. And then, you know, if we are given the opportunity to do a local sales tax for the community center, part of that year's budget will include a little building capital replacement fund, uh, city Hall. We can we can manage. I think right now we're we're doing okay. But, you know, as we continue to diversify the police department, that there's probably going to be a need to have different locker room space or different, you know, configurations as vehicles get bigger garage, basement. So, um, just know that there is no easy answer on capital replacement fund. But we that's why we plan long term. That's why we build out five and ten year capital improvement plans. Um, but I do worry a little bit about some of our newer buildings falling into disrepair faster. 01:10:46,630 S2: I certainly think that we have done a good job in terms of our CIP plans, uh, and following those as we can, because there are a lot of moving pieces to this budget. And, you know, one of the things that you have to take a look at is that we went through a pandemic and, um, kept our heads above water. And so there's there's just a lot of moving pieces. But this is the next piece for us to be talking about and including that into our planning. And, you know, it's always one thing that, you know, if you do one thing, then there are then there's something else that you can't do. And it's like our own personal checkbooks, you know? Uh, it's about prioritizing and making the best decisions that you can based upon the facts that you have at the time. And so this is one that we need on our radar, uh, going forward, Mr. Rube. 01:11:55,449 S4: Thank you to the city manager of Staples Point. Um, ambulance fund doesn't keep me up with this, does keep me up at night sometimes just because we do have the North Fire Station beautiful building, but we need to make sure we maintain it so we're not looking at a 10 to $15 million setback at some point. Speaking of capital improvement plans, we do have right now a municipal facility upgrade item in our budget. You can see towards the bottom the allocation for 2026 to 2030 is around 250 to $300,000. Um, that doesn't go very far when you have multiple multi-million dollar buildings, um, aging buildings for that matter. Uh, I just want to point out on the south side I should get an aerial view. But even of our city hall on the excuse me, on the west side of the building, just one side of the roof was about $180,000 to replace. We have the rest of the building going the rest of the way that will need a new roof. So it's, uh, about $180,000. Takes up a good portion of that allocation from year to year. Uh, the funding source generally is the Councilmember Lee. 01:13:05,270 S6: Thank you. Mayor. One other question that I had for Mister Sabo earlier today was this $250,000? Like, when do you have a better idea of when this came into place? How did this number come to be? And now we're going to be moving to $300,000. But the reality is the cost of doing business, the cost of everything is going up. Is this a number that still I mean, does this number still make sense? Is this something we have to talk about to increase sooner so that we can better be in a better position for other items? 01:13:32,329 S4: Thank you, mayor and Council. Um, I don't know how long, how far it goes back exactly, but it does go quite a few years back. Um, closer to the $200,000 mark. But to your point, with the cost of repairs and that it is quite significant. Um, so this is one area that we could look at increasing those figures and that allotment sooner than later, as soon as the 2027 budget, as we look at the 27 through 31 capital improvement plan, um, this would be an area that we can make it significant, increase on it. The funds don't have to necessarily be used all that year, so we could build it up there. We do have a building replacement fund as an accounting side of things. Um, but for the most part, when we have 250,000, we staff look at the needs of the city at the time. Um, and they spend that 250,000. Some of it will go to Ada compliance. Um, others can go to the roof, um, or that. So, but to your point, yes, we should be looking at that. And that's, uh, the point of this slide is to kind of show that we're doing a $250,000 investment, when it should be quite a bit higher than that. 01:14:44,520 S2: Can you? You know, it's always helpful for me to break this down into, uh, the percentage of levy increase. So, and I recognize I'm asking you to just kind of give us a ballpark number. But if we were to increase right now, we've got $250,000. If, um. What levy percentage does that represent? 01:15:10,859 S4: One approximately 1% levy is $343,490. Approximately. Um. 01:15:19,060 S3: It'd be a 250,000 is a 0.72. 01:15:23,619 S1: Okay. 01:15:24,460 S5: 1% is three. 01:15:25,500 S1: 43. 01:15:26,380 S3: Yes. 01:15:26,899 S1: Correct. Okay. 01:15:29,140 S2: So for every just for people who are watching. For every 1% of the levy that we increase, that represents collecting $343,000. Correct. And yeah. 01:15:45,979 S2: That's a lot of money. 01:15:46,979 S3: That would be a massive levy increase to do it all. And that's why the staff will not be recommending. 01:15:52,619 S2: It doesn't. 01:15:53,100 S1: Work. 01:15:53,300 S3: Like that. It doesn't work that way. 01:15:54,699 S2: Attacks like that. Correct. Don't have that. 01:15:57,140 S1: It is. 01:15:57,939 S2: Uh, ability. 01:15:58,819 S3: We wanted. We wanted to put it on the radar. And mayor and council members. One of the things that I will say is the the easiest way to lower your cost is to lower your square footage footprint. It's just often a function of math. You're heating a space. You're cleaning a space. You're cooling a space. The the that's it's the it's the simplest way is to condense your holdings. And I worked for Hennepin County. They owned and operated the equivalent of five IDs towers across the county. And then we continued to say, if you want to have a lower cost, you have to lower your building footprint. It's clearly the only way. 01:16:35,239 S2: Which is contrary to what we just talked about in that the equipment is getting bigger, the vehicles are getting bigger. And so to have a smaller footprint, uh, is contradictory. 01:16:49,520 S1: Yes. 01:16:50,079 S2: Challenging. Okay. 01:16:53,800 S4: Thank you. Mayor. Um, moving on, taking a look at our parks, some of our other major assets. So we have 26 parks in Maplewood, 30 playgrounds, two at one park at Sunset Ridge. Six park shelters that are open for rentals and then for warming houses that have indoor bathrooms. And then Wakefield is the only one that has a year round, permanent outside restroom. So with that, um, we do have a capital improvement plan, um, for park upgrades for existing parks. Right now, we're allocating between 200 and $250,000 per year for that. Um, a main theme that was included in the park System master plan was taking care of what we have. So that goes back to even our buildings, but also our parks as well. So having 36 parks, um, is huge. It's a great, uh, it's great for the community, but it's something that's not cheap to, uh, to maintain that. Um, so this is one area that, uh, that we're looking at. Park playgrounds, um, Can be easily 200 to $300,000 for playground. Um, diving a little bit deeper into the expense of some of the parks for one of the capital improvement items is for Harvest Park Phase two, and the phase two focuses on the south side of the park. On the right side is. The image is small to see, but there are four phases to the park. Improvement. The allocation for 2026 is about 120. Excuse me, $1.2 million. Uh, phase one was around $300,000. And, um, looking out to phase three and four will be another almost $2.5 million to to completely redo this park in all four phases. 01:18:47,079 S4: I wanted to include, uh, some pictures of some of our parks so you can kind of see the age of them, the condition that they're in. So, uh, you're aware when it comes to 200 to $250,000? Um, we have several different park shelters that you can see were built many, many years ago, which is not a problem. Um, however, we just need to make sure that we are allocating enough funding to maintain them. 01:19:16,390 S4: Next, taking a look at that, as I mentioned earlier. Um, probably 10 to 15 years ago, we are over $80 million in debt. Um, at the end of 2025, we were at $46.3 million. And then for 2026, we anticipate to be around $47.6 million in debt. Looking towards the next ten years, uh, caring for that $47.6 million, adding in new debt, uh, for street projects or park projects that we have in the CIP currently. And then the debt that we're paying off, you'll see that we're paying off debt quicker than we are adding to it. Um, looking out to 2031 to 2036. We just put a $4 million placeholder out there not knowing what things will cost. Hopefully that's not a cost of a playground at that point. But, um, anticipating that we could have some higher costs in the future looking out to 2020, 2036, excuse me, we could be as low as $31 million with the current plan that we have in place. 01:20:23,770 S4: And then finally, I just wanted to go quickly. 01:20:25,569 S2: Go back to this. I have to say that, you know, this reduction in debt is a testament to people that have served on our council and our staff. Uh, I remember back in 2014, it was $80 million, which was a devastatingly scary number. And the fact that we have been able to do as many positive things in our city while also reducing our debt by $33 million, which includes so much interest that we are not carrying anymore. And I have to say that the decision to focus on that and to recognize that everything comes incrementally and it's making those challenging decisions boldly, courageously and saying, we're going to tackle the debt, we're going to reduce it. And now to look in, you know, 12 years, paying off $33 million in debt is astronomical when you consider that we've also built a fire station, we've built Wakefield Park. We have done a number of things. We have redone things here in City Hall. And I think really the key is good judgment. I think that it is recognizing you can't do it all at once, and you need to tackle it and continue with consistency. And I really think, you know, councils have made those tough decisions, but our staff and our finance department has been absolutely stellar in helping us reduce that to something that is manageable. And it's not a when I first joined the council, that was a scary number. That's what kept me awake. $80 million. How do you even tackle that? Well, you do it incrementally. Kind of like that old adage about how do you eat an elephant? You do it one bite at a time. So this, I think, is a really important number. And it puts things in context for where we've been and where we're headed. So thank you, Mr. Rubin. All the staff that have been part of this in trying to help, you know, and I have Mr. Sabel, you know, we're a city of excellence, so we provide excellent service, but we do it in an efficient and economical way, and we are good stewards of the taxpayers money. So thank you for that. 01:23:10,229 S4: Thank you mayor. And finally, I just wanted to go over the budget process again, highlighting the budget engagement that we had at the Spring cleanup and then the kickoff that we had tonight's special meeting. We'll have a budget engagement that celebrate summer EDA discussion. We'll have a few workshop discussions. And then in September, setting our preliminary levy, um, another budget engagement at the Friday night fireworks, followed then by department presentations and then the public hearing to adopt the final 2027 budget and 2027 to 2031 CIP Mr. Sable. 01:23:53,380 S3: Thank you, mayor and council members. If the finance director can go back. One slide. Um, there are no budget meetings scheduled in the month of October. And so I, as I was brainstorming sitting here, that could potentially be a wonderful opportunity to consider a special meeting somewhere else or a budget presentation in another area of the city. So I think we'll we'll brainstorm in October. Opportunity. 01:24:21,699 S2: Thank you for doing that. Council member Villavicencio. 01:24:25,739 S7: Thank you. Mayor. Speaking of, uh, October that the Halloween. We always do a Halloween event here at City Hall. We could have the budget game there. Um, that would be fun, a little scary. Uh, the other the other question I had was, uh, this presentation, like, we typically put all our, our presentations and stuff on the website. Will this also be on the website in the typical spot where they find the council meeting minutes and presentations. 01:24:58,359 S3: Uh, mayor and council members. Council member. Villavicencio. Yes. It'll be is part of our. That's why we made it a special meeting. So it will fall under the agenda packet. It will also include it on the Maplewood budget page. 01:25:11,319 S7: Awesome. Thank you. 01:25:13,520 S2: Anything else for Mister Rube? 01:25:18,000 S2: All right then, Council members, we have concluded the business of our special meeting. And with that, we are adjourned. Thank you everyone.