##VIDEO ID:hY5d2r9izew## we'll call the city council regular meeting to order for Monday September 16th 2024 would everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance to of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all call the role please mayor Hoy here council member buron here council member Bernett here council member lean here council member Wilson here all right any changes to the agenda none anything Katie Steve none all right seeing no changes I'll seek a motion to approve the agenda motion to approve second motion by Holly second by Steve all in favor say I I All Right Moving On Nothing under announcements uh item six is our citizen com ments there's anyone in attendance wishing to speak at this time please step up to the podium I'll just read this real quick citizen comments are a time for anyone to address the city council on matters not on the agenda those speaking should State their name and address and limit their comments to 5 minutes the council will not engage in discussion on your topic but those issues requiring response will be responded to by the next city council meeting you're good uh Esther Varga 30942 25th Street West good evening Council mayor attendant uh I would just like to comment on the meeting we had with the Planning Commission and um some people would say that when you step up to this microphone the decisions are already made I would have been so happy if I could refute that statement but unfortunately it did not feel like that uh at the Planning Commission meeting I also would like to point out that this commission here is called responsible government unit uh we are um encouraged to to be engaged in local government because that's where decisions are happening but if you are the one who are making these decisions and what are the point of the rules and the zoning and the regulations there's always an exception so excuse but me but to me it feels like this rgu is is like here dear goat watch my cabbage while I'm gonna step out quickly it's like we are we are trusting the the goat with the cabbage and I would also like to reflect on uh the track comment and one of the council members were asking track about the comment on not near residential area and the track response was oh we meant high density none of you council members refuted or dug into asking questions so here is my take on it high density 200 people in one building matters 200 people in two Hing buildings don't matter thank you thank you ma'am sir yep hi I'm Nancy Arad at 22165 Bowmont Avenue I'm here also for the data center as Minnesota continues it efforts to attract Mega data centers to the state what responsibility do the city do the cities have to its citizens where are our safeguards when the cities vote to rezone land and allow industrial buildings to be built next to our homes and our neighborhoods we have no protection I was at last week's Planning Commission meeting and it was clear that it was a setup it was clear the committee already knew how they were going to vote the public hearing was just for show you the city had track talk they showed us how great things were going to be then you had you had standing room as standing room only crowd of residents who requested that you not reone land that is sandwiched between two longstanding residential neighborhoods you are turning residential like commercial land into mixed use industrial we brought up our research we brought up data we brought up problems in other communities where who are also dealing with these kind of things and then you had track come back and explain away all of our concerns as nothing mere exaggerations figments of our imagination and that we are just too dimwitted to understand that this resoning is actually to our benefit the committee didn't blink and they passed the resoning they didn't even have the decency to pretend to sympathize no one said we hear you we understand we are we know that you're concerned we know you're frustrated they in unity just quickly dismissed all of our research and data and voted to reone it was a sham one city council member actually visited a chasa data center with four or five buildings and felt that that was good research that there was no noise track has admitted there will be constant no noise generated from this data center track's own presentation stated that data centers are best located away from residential areas there are reasons for that we brought up the reasons at track's community community meeting on August 20th Kristen Dean said quote there will be noise generated from the data center end quote meanwhile last week I heard several committee members claim they visited data centers that there was magically no noise at any of the ones they visited noise is just one factor industrial buildings belong in industrial zones this data center is going to be the biggest in the state you heard them you can't go visit one in Minnesota we will be the guinea pigs you and you the city are willing to sacrifice your residents for your own gain decent cities with Integrity follow their zoning plans because that is what is fair for their residents who purchase their homes in your cities they just don't reone when money comes to town after you pass this and I know you will as I'm sure this plan has been in place for years I vow to work where I can to push for legislation in Minnesota to protect us the citizens and the residents from cities like Farmington and councils like yours and I hope because I hope there will be be protection set up for us in the future that will protect our rights from Big Corp when cities won't it takes integrity and I don't see it and I hope voters are paying attention to what's happening in this town because it's clear we need new leadership all motans need to watch what's going on here because it's clear that at least in Farmington no one's home investment is safe in the hands of of the city government thank you thank you there's anyone else wishing to speak I'm Kathy Johnson 22280 bearing Avenue Farmington I will just be very brief I'm just really disappointed I had the same response that Nancy did with regard to how the uh planning commission's vote went and I think that there is a willingness on this Council to treat us like we can just we can just be sacrificed well we're not beholden to the city of Farmington to provide a tax base and believe me I understand the importance of tax base when you're asking us to sacrifice our property values our standard of living um what we hold dear living where we have lived I've lived there for 45 years this is a extreme breach from the um Metropolitan council's plan the comp plan that was supposed to be in place until 2040 um it is inappropriate and illegal this is illegal spot zoning and you're asking us to be the sacrificial Lambs Dirk Rody said oh there's even one part in Northern Virginia where the tax property values went up on the houses Northern Virginia is one of the is if not the most one of the most competitive housing markets in the country because it's so close to Washington DC and escalating house prices there have nothing to do with being close to a data center that's the nature of that community in our community you have you're beholden to protect your citizens and you're asking us to be the sacrificial Lambs that's inappropriate um and no mayor I don't plan to just move as you told us to do in your last public speech if you don't like the way that you and this Council operate you can just move that is not the statement of a public servant that is the statement of someone who is very self-serving do not vote to rezone it's illegal and inappropriate thank you I'm Denise may I live at 22265 bearing Avenue um I sent an email to the council and the Planning Commission so I'm not going to reread that but um I just want to say this evening that as a neighborhood we feel like we're fighting for the quality of life for us we're fighting for our quality of life I really respect the fact that you have a job you have budgets to meet you have responsibilities to the public and we really respect that but please respect the fact that we live there we live there 24/7 I know that a lot of research has been done on the Planning Commission at least they say it has and I'm sure you've done a lot of research yourself but I I'm just going to read a little bit of what I did um email to you tracks presentation to the council Planning Commission and the residents of June 4th of this year stated that data centers are good neighbors and that includes property planning track said and I quote when cities plan Master growth when they master plan growth data centers along with other critical in infrastructure like airports are best located away from residential centers so they admit a data center being located near residential areas is not good so why are they requesting to build one right next to residential areas if they admit it's not good then why are they requesting to do so in an email conversation I had with mayor hoit he stated that the city has a legal requirement to issue a finding a fact when denying an application and I quote not liking it feeling uncomfortable with it or any other arbitrary reasoning is not sufficient if the applicant pursues litigation end of quote how about finding the finding of fact that this resoning looks and smells like spot zoning how can you look at tracks preliminary PL plans and focus I know I know you which I know you know which screen this is focus on all of the homes my property shares the property line with a golf course how you can look at all of these homes and think that this would be a good idea for everybody that lived there there would be an extreme departure in land use between residential zoning and Industrial zoning another consideration the Minnesota League of cities and its zoning guide for cities says neighborhood opposition can be considered as a finding effect when denying a zoning application the guide says and I quote while broad General statements of opposition may not qualify as a reasonable finding of fact specific statements made by the public that are concrete and factual in nature and relate to the public welfare do rise to the level of accepting acceptable findings and I will stop with that thank you for letting us have the opportunity to share thanks thank you my name is Terry Pearson I live at 2475 225th Street West and my new neighbors in this proposal not only will be five to eight no no I'm wrong they dropped it to five story buildings within a few hundred feet of my house but also a gigantic substation isn't it lovely what will do that do to my property values I suggest that if you decide to go through with this that you buy my property because it's not going to be valuable to anybody I could not even sell it to anybody with a good moral conscience to put them through the kind of crap that's going to happen we are the collateral damage of what is being proposed here and we have there are multiple houses multiple families and this is what we look like thank you thank you hey good evening I'm Nick Nelson I live at 3095 224 Street West um unfortunately much like everybody here and some of my neighbors probably going to take a much more Nuance take than y'all um cuz to be honest 100% against this from the get-go felt very advantageous of the city a sneak surprise Tom Tim I'm so sorry what's your name Tom Tony Tony excuse me my apologies like you last week you made a mention of like this had kind of all kicked off last year meanwhile residents first find out about it January February honestly the duty to notify and and provide notice to people that live adjacent to the golf course not even all of them receive that notice and if it wer for my wife and the Facebook Network overall this would have gone totally blind I'm not sure if a lot of y'all count on that I want to assume the best I want to assume positive intent I really really do but it doesn't feel that way I'm not going to get into law cuz I don't know dly squat about law I'm not an attorney but I can tell you that I work over 60 hours a week and when I'm not working I'm raising four small kids much like some of you that have been here for decades I chose Farmington as my home right two years ago moved here um was super excited Dreamhouse unbelievable accommodating fit the family growth good friends awesome neighbors so I went back and unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the June 4th meeting but of the hundred views on YouTube right now I'm probably five of them so of varying speeds to digest this as much as I can and what track had proposed um at that meeting so much like some of my neighbors here they mentioned not being placed in a residential spot on like slide two or three and then finally coming full circle towards the end of the meeting adjusting um there's a caveat there's an asteris it says no only high density and this is not qualifying for it well potato potato but um I don't think it really counts and being good neighbors and being good stewards and to be fair track I'm sure they're in the business of sales I'm in sales and either I'm the hardest sell or I'm the easiest sell because a good salesperson loves a good pitch and Kristen did the hell out of her job I will give her that um but looking at this like this lady just mentioned in County Virginia for over 11 years they have been the highest average income in the the the nation and the average residency is anywhere from like four to S years I should have cited that I did have not in my apologies but again this General comparing of these various counties and comparing it to Farmington of what I will accept as limited being only a two-year resident here does not make sense right it's the same different type of it's a different type of Community continuing on why they want to be here our climate our power and our water that sounds like a them problem to me instead of putting it in my backyard I'm not as close to it as some people are but it is still pretty close right I will still experience whatever effects it might be and Nick I know you mentioned that you worked in a data center for 15 years unfortunately I haven't had the time to make my own tour and make my own anid antidotal evidence my experience to the sound but I really want to take your word for it um again that sounds like a them problem I don't understand why they could not move it further into that Farmland I understand you've annexed land from our neighbors and I'm sure there's part of that in there the employees 273 employees of almost 2 200 average daily trips sorry just I'm just literally going Slide by slide the noise pollution let me skip ahead to slide 16 noise pollution not exceeding residential ambient noise I'm very curious who's conducting this impartial study where is this coming from I did not hear that asked of all these people conducting various studies and supporting these other agreements who's incentivized tra has a clear business purpose farming has a clear business purpose Revenue to the tune of $325 million over 20 years heck yeah I want to make that deal all day I really do 100% however I'm very curious breaking down those numbers further and really what that looks like is it based off the the land value is it based off the units built because if that's the case I think Kristen said they're not all going to be built at once so what point in time does that realized tax revenue fully come back to our community come back to our City Impact our schools impact our Parks etc etc etc all those various benefits that Kristen so delightfully sold on behalf of these hyperscalers hyperscalers for a second let me talk on that for one second I don't think there's anything any of you can do to tell me I would love to be wrong and I'm the first person to admit in a room if I'm wrong that you guys really don't know who the end user is that's that's just a statement of my own opinion excuse me I have a lot of notes Here to Dirk's credit he addressed a lot of the community's concerns and addressing particular buffer zones Phil also asked about how many jobs are truly coming from out of state Josh you mentioned a deed report from 2019 of 293 it professionals and only 14 jobs being available I really love to understand those details deeper I understand I'm one citizen but I think the community at large deserves to understand that the world has changed since 2019 sorry so Josh you also did a follow-up question at the end of their pitch bringing it back around asking questions about water 60 70 million gallons per year you cited United States Golf Association I believe of what the average golf course uses and unfortunately without fully understanding what the end users's intent is to be and what those buildings are going to look like how can we accurately understand what the water usage is versus what the average home would use if you were going to continue to build community and build neighborhoods around us through streets so on and so forth but I was unable to run those numbers to get a more accurate um Citation for you for the track representative I did not write his name down that is the power utility thing I feel like a lot of these answers of being like hey he never actually answered the question of how often these generators would be used he did eventually come around to a point of running for about an hour per month and in emergent situations however the general question was still left unanswered Katie is I'm so sorry is Katie up here or is she part of the planning Oh Katie thank you um you had a I appreciate your question about the lifespan of these DCS I really do because the entire language building up to it they had um expressed like 10 15 to 20 years and they have to replace the servers and their intent is to build this very specifically for this site but again I guess it's good if it is going to be a long-term continuing investment and continuing return to the city to better support its people cannot read what I wrote I want to be respectful and everybody has an opportunity to come through I will wrap it up I hear you I appreciate that I will wrap it up because I'm almost done with my notes cuz I write like to chicken so Josh I guess I'll finish with you man that at the end you closed asking this developer in good faith for track to abide by what's expressed in their pitch right yes thank you however and I know that there's still more to come but nothing means anything on intent and in sales you you use those words so you can't get pinned down intent opportunity flexible like it's all worth a bucket of spit if it's not written down so I'm very curious on how hard you lock them into these commitments I think the community deserves to understand how hard you're going to lock these into the commitments and I know my neighbors however I don't know you and I had to do some research and I've heard plenty of stories and engagements and I just think it's it's fair for you if you had come out to our neighborhood and had some type of town hall sat down at our tables walked around shook hands kissed babies that's your job because I think there is a potential net benefit to this but instead it seems like you've given us a lot of poison plans change take that dictor not leadership and delegate move if you don't like it I made this place my home I chose this place specifically and I felt so lucky to be here and that's a emotional argument and nothing counts to an emotional argument in these types of things but I think you get a lot further with honey than with vinegar I pray you take our these citizens these neighborhoods into consideration the future development and the potential that this does does have for the city that's all I have thank you thank you is there anyone else wishing to speak at this time all right seeing none we'll move on to item seven which is our consent agenda I'd seek a motion to approve the consent agenda motion to approve second motion by Holly second by Nick all in favor say I I hi all right our first our first action item here under petitions is 101 the final plat and plan un development Vermillion Commons fourth edition Tony thank you uh mayor council members before you this evening is the final plat and plan unit development uh for V milon Common's fourth edition uh this plat consists of 67 single family lots spread over just under 26 Acres uh it is consistent with the Ro preliminary plat uh the plat also that preliminary plat also contains 66 town home lots which are not part of this particular final plat um the property to be uh rezoned R3 plan unit development uh the average lot size within the single family portion of this development is 6,198 square ft with a minimum of 4,800 Square fet final plat does contain three outlots uh labeled a b and c out lot a is a Parkland that will be dedicated out Lot B is storm water facility also to be deeded to the city with this plat and Outlaw SE is the future town home portion of the development itself so I apologize the plant is turn so North is uh to uh your left um but this is the overall plat as you can see the residential lots uh are along the northern and western boundary of the site with out Lot C being the southeast portion that is that future town home portion so again just showing you the various Lots within the development uh access to the site uh will be at the South End of the plat with the connection of 218 Street to 220th Street West uh do want to mention that 218 street from um vermillian Comm third um at this time will not be extended and in due in large part to the gas pipelines that run through uh that particular development one of those lines is scheduled to be decommissioned within the next year or so um and the gas company is requiring if that is to be a road placed over that certain um requirements that would be needed um and it's just not financially uh feasible to do that knowing that they're going to likely dig that up within a year or two to take out that gas line um so that without that extension it does create basically one only one access point for egress and Ingress to the fourth edition and that's that connection of 218th to 220th Street uh on the southern end the developer has agreed to construct a temporary binous emergency access that would extend from the Terminus of Rose Drive uh South through out lot SE to 220th Street West uh this would include signage and barricades uh at both ends of the access and this is to control any unauthorized um access the connection of this uh access this temporary access will have to be approved by Dakota County as well uh and the county has allowed these type of um emergency accesses in the past on a number of uh recent developments as well all public roads uh will consist of a 60ft right of uh with a 32t wide roadway as far as Parks trails and sidewalks uh there is a 1.5 acre park again that is Outlaw a uh it's Pro proposed on the Northern end of the development it's also contiguous to additional land that we had acquired as part of the vermillian common town home uh directly to the east as of that as well 5 foot wide sidewalk is proposed on the west side of Rose Drive south side and east side of 218 Street West and Dakota County does have a 12T wide Trail drain and utility easement uh which was granted back in 2022 which runs along the western and Northern boundary of the plat uh the easement is shown on the plat document as far as the planned unit development uh within your packet there's a draft PUD agreement the developer has reviewed and finds it acceptable uh the agreement does outline certain deviations uh some of which are the allowance of single family dwellings within the R3 zoning District reducing minimum lot area for single family lots to 4,800 Square ft reducing the minimum lot width for single family lots to 40 and establishing the the minimum setbacks for the single family lots which would be uh front of 25 ft uh the side interior 6 ft the side street 20 and rear 25 ft the m maximum lot or building coverage for single family lots would be 45% and allowance of private streets within the R3 zoning district and again that would only be uh for the town home portion and then reduce the width of the private Street to 24 ft down from 26 again only for the town home portion the plan commission did review the final plan and PUD agreement at its regular meeting on September 10th and recommend recommended approval of both with a 5 vote the action as requested this evening is to adopt resolution 224-7941 the satisfaction of all engineering comments related to construction plans for grading and utilities and number two a development contract between the developer and city of Farmington shall be executed and security fees and cost shall be paid submission of all other documents required under the development contract shall be required so thank you sir kti any questions can you go back to the full map of the streets I just want to make sure I'm understanding where you would have the emergency connection there yep so cuz I thought at one point it said Rose and Rose Drive so where it terminates right here there would be a binous drive that would come down this way and Connect into 220th so there would be two accesses that one only would be for emergency vehicles the one off of rows not the one to the to the South is that say well in in our packet it's saying I can't get my mouse here it would the emergency access would only start right here and go south to 220th but you could come in from 220th North into the town homes is okay correct that's what I was looking for clarification on thank you Steve um Tony I know the trend I I don't have any concerns with the development I'm just trying to understand how these numbers would actually work in in reality so we've got 40t wide and then we've got six foot side setback in the interior Lots correct so if you you know 6 * 2 12 - 40 so theoretically what are we at 28 fet so unless the house is 28 ft wide is there actually part of the side setback that's contained within the structure itself or is it really 28 ft wide structure would have to meet those setbacks okay and so would it happen in the development that you'd have adjacent properties having overlapping side setbacks or would that be would that be a concern or could that happen overlapping set acts over side no you're going to each no because it's going to start at each proper correct okay all right that's the only question I had Holly um well sorry I was I wasn't ready for that one I thought you were going to Nick next my bad no no no no no it's okay I'm good now I just hadn't formulated my thought fully uh so along the lines of what Steve had maybe Aster alluded to is that this fulfills a gap that exists in the housing market right now so we're looking at structures that are much narrower than what we might be used to looking at and i' I've seen a um a neighborhood similar to this years ago in Woodberry where when you look at the homes they are very very narrow um but they're they're filling that Gap and we've already discussed that the reduction in street with particular to the private area still allows for what we need for emergency vehicles turnarounds all of that sort of stuff so there's no concern in there it's just a little different from what we're used to seeing it is okay that's really all that I have everything else has been asked and answered already yeah I did see some of this from the Planning Commission meeting so some of those questions were already answered for me but on the 218th topic I'm sorry if my orientation is all messed up but the other side of 218th is part of the Third Edition right yes so um you have 218 Street which is right here it would be the portion that would be directly to the okay so my question is when that pipe eventually comes out is there a plan in the anywhere I guess it's not in this PUD I don't think to actually finish that road out they'll be required to finish that road out um as part of development contract and everything correct perfect that was my exact question is does that fall under the developer of the city then so that was the only additional question I had on this one thank you I for clarification in our packet as you go through um I think it was like on C2 C4 it's further down in the packet where it breaks down the the tighter details on the on the The Plaid it actually has 128th Street is that just an error that's an error that's an error okay I I want to make sure I was looking at the same thing that it shows up quite a few times it's 128th not 218th so um the second thing is and and just I guess I'm going to stress this the the developers representative because this continues to come up when we have six foot side yard setbacks I understand we have to do it for the Pud for the density meet the housing needs all the things but as the end user we are going to stress that you continue to communicate with the homeowners about the ability to have accessory vehicle parking behind the front facade of the home like we have city ordinances about trailers being parked in the driveways and everything else when we reduce these sidey guard setbacks it just it it we hear about it and the Planning Commission hears about it six months from now after they move in so just we ask that you can continue to communicate with prospective owners that the reduced setbacks are there to meet the density and the price points and all the things that everyone's looking for but the end user doesn't always realize that until months after they've moved in and they have snowmobiles that they can't park there so just please stress that I will mention the sidey 6 setback is our typical setback they're not asking for that to be reduced that's N I bring it up every time because they people think they get more you can't fit a six foot trailer and a six foot side yard setb so and then we have problems with it but no otherwise again you guys are um I continue to watch the development and it is it is moving quickly and it is filling a housing demand uh hence having the additions uh coming in front of us uh much quicker than I think everybody expected so I appreciate that all right I will seek a motion uh to adopt resolution 2024 Tac 79 approving the final plant and plan unit development agreement Vermillion Commons fourth edition contingent upon the following satisfaction of all engineering comments related to the construction plans for grading and utilities and a development contract between the developer and the city of Farmington shall be executed and security fees and cost shall be paid submission of all other documents required under the development contract shall be required motion to approve second motion by Steve second by Nick call the rooll please council member lean yes council member Wilson yes mayor Hoy yes counc member burent yes counc member berett yes thank you thank you uh next item on the agend under new business is 12 Tac 1 which is the preliminary 2025 general fund budget and tax levy Kim good evening mayor and City Council Members um before we dive into the budget and tax levy I just wanted to highlight our four pillars the priorities that drive the work that we do and here they are listed the quality business growth and retention supporting and growing local businesses to boost our economy Community engagement enhancing ways we connect with and involve our community infr infrastructure support maintaining and improving our City's infrastructure like roads and facilities and providing the highest level of service and employee engagement culture and wellness fostering a positive work environment and supporting our employees well-being these are the priorities that guided the preparation of the 2025 budget just to take a look at the budget development um April we have been since April we've been working on the budget it was then all that all the Departments submitted their budget requests and in June each department sat down with myself the city administrator and the assistant City administrator to review their proposed budgets uh initially those requests would have resulted in double digigit percentage increase in the tax levy though knowing that that potential Financial impact to taxpayers may be too high departments were requested to re-examine the requests to find potential reductions and since then the budget has been reworked and updated based on new information received in August we had our first work session with the city council to get your feedback and Direction and we met again earlier this month and after those discussions we made more adjustments to get the preliminary budget to what we're proposing tonight so tonight we'll review the proposed 2025 budget and ask for your approval just a reminder that the approved preliminary tax levy represents the maximum amount that the council can set in December though it could be reduced and that was the case that um in 24 was reduced from when the preliminary Levy was set so looking at the proposed general fund revenues so other than tax levy the sources of revenue that the city uses to fund its general fund budget include those shown in the bar chart in 2024 what's showing on the left hand part of your screen that amount to 4.7 million and in 2025 you see on the right hand side of your screen is projected to be 4 .5 million so a reduction from last year of about 200,000 the primary revenue source for the city other than tax levy is licenses and permits that makes up a part of it um and in that is building permits and building permits makes up about 75% of that revenue and we're projecting increased building permit revenues based on construction ruction Trends and anticipated development activity intergovernmental revenue is another large chunk of that and that includes MSA maintenance police state aid and fire Aid which makes up nearly 90% of the $846,000 revenue from charges for services and is anticipated to grow by about 105,000 from 2024 that includes fees like for fire protection along with SRO Services provided to the school district right the largest item is the transfers into the general fund that did decrease or is projected to be decreasing in 2025 in 2024 we had transfers into the general fund to less the tax impacts and those transfers for 2025 have been eliminated so overall the non-property tax revenues is proposed to decreased nearly 4% from 2024 we looking at general fund expenditures and this shows the expenditures by Department we can see that Administration is about the same decreasing just slightly Human Resources minimal 4% increase police which makes up the largest portion of the expenditures I'm sorry I skipped over finance and risk management um that one is projected to increase and that's just due to shifting of a position so it was in another department and now I have the front desk position that is is under Finance um police that increase is due to Personnel costs and contractual Services fire that is also proposed to increase about 270,000 and that again is an increase of personnel cost which includes the addition of the fire marshall in 2024 so we use Savings in 2024 but it's being included in the budget in 2025 and also some protective gear that needs replacement and also for new hires in Community Development there's a slight decrease engineering is showing a minimal decrease of less than 1% and part of that is due to some of the costs that shifted into Municipal Services Municipal Services shows an increase of 9% primarily due to Personnel costs increased internal Fleet charges and about 40,000 of non EAB related forestry expenses Park and wreck that increase is largely due to Personnel costs internal Fleet charges and previously underfunded repairs and maintenance budgets transfers an increase in funding of about $267,000 for trail and building maintenance which largely accounts for the 7.7% increase so overall the total general fund expenditures equal 19.8 million or a 5.02% increase from 2024 this is just another slide to show the expenditures but instead of by Department it's by category so this reflects that salary and benefits makes up our largest portion of our expenditures uh reflecting 66% um this category then would cover employee wages health insurance pensions and other sort of related costs after salary and benefits the next largest chunk is with purchase services and other charges so this would be for Consulting Professional Services and also includes utility expenses and then the next largest chunk would be for the other financing uses and that primarily consists of transfers to out to other funds that allocation supports special projects and helps balance budgets Citywide so before I get into how this all affects the tax levy just wanted to propose some of the highlights that are included in the budget one would be the Staffing so as I mentioned we have the fire marshall we also have two community service officers those positions were actually added in 2024 using savings but again it was using savings so it wasn't in the budget so it 100% impacts the budget in 2025 we also have an administrative support technician and then a couple changes in some current positions that would just add some additional cost by the increase in hours or what the position entails and then as shown in the previous slide Personnel um costs account for 70% of the city's entire budget so increases in these costs for 20125 are responsible for at least 3.5% of the proposed tax levy increase we also have some transfers transfers from the closed bond funds to reduce the debt Levy from the solid waste funds what we have left over with that to finance the emerald ashb management costs and general fund to fund major maintenance projects including those are planned for 2025 Trail maintenance and the fire station one roof and skylight replacement other highlights key projects with a rambling River Center those facility Improvement should begin next year Street reconstruction we have the street reconstruction plan so we have a 5-year plan identifying those projects along with Mill and overlay projects and we also have some equipment so police Fleet leasing of the police squads plus an addition of a CSO vehicle and replacement of Aging tasers for Public Works we have dump truck brine equipment sewer TR sewer televising software and an engineering vehicle and then for Parks a John Deere tractor uh replacement of a pickup truck Mower and a brush cat attachment and just to note that all of these are replacing equipment with the exception of that CSO vehicle the brine equipment and the brush brush cat attachment so if we're looking at the proposed preliminary 2025 budget and tax levy the general fund expenditures are looking to increase by 5% the general fund revenues have a decrease of nearly 4% in our general oper operating Levy then the difference between the expenditures and the revenues is 15 million or about 8% on top of the general operating Levy there's the Eda Levy and the debt Levy we add those together we get the gross tax levy of 7.09% increase from 2024 then you take the gross tax levy and you subtract out the fiscal disparities was which is the metrowide program to try and even out commercial and Industrial across the metro area and then that gives us our net tax levy and that is 14.8 million and an increase of of 5.89% and I just wanted to take a quick moment to address the proposed tax statements that residents will receive in a couple months so the actual tax that they show on the front page specific to that property is going to show the net tax levy but there was a recent law that requires the counties to list on the back of the statement all the cities and school districts in the county and what they had for their tax levy in 2024 and what they have for this proposed next year and that is the certified Levy or the gross Levy so even though what ultimately PID by taxpayers is the next net tax levy what's showing on the backside you're going to see that 7.09% so I just wanted to clarify that even though that's listed what it's actually paid by the taxpayers is that net tax levy of 5.89% and next just wanted to touch on the estimated tax rate so as I highlighted on the previous screen we have the gross Levy you take into consideration the fiscal disparities distribution which lowers the impact to the residents and we have the net Levy of 4.8 million and then we also look at the gross tax capacity and we subtract out Tiff and fiscal disparities contribution to get the net tax capacity and it's that net Levy divided by the net tax capacity that gives us our tax rate and you use that tax rate to determine what the tax impact is going to be to a home so for 2024 the average residential taxable market value as relate to us by Dakota county is 345,000 so it's slightly less than what it was in 2023 and just to know that that even though I'm referencing 2024 market value that is what is used that assessment year for 2024 is used to calculate your 2025 taxes and so if you wanted to figure out whether your tax rates going to or what the potential taxes you are going to pay you're going to take that tax rate which I showed in the previous slide take that and multiply it by this at 1% so like 300 $3,450 1% of the 345,000 take that rate tax rate multiplied by that that's what kind of taxes you're going to see for 2025 estimated so in 2024 the estimated taxes for the average home that would have been based on 351,000 was $1,584 for 2025 based on the estimated market value of 345,000 the city portion of the taxes would be $1,650 so it' be an increase of $66 per year or 550 per month requested action tonight is to approve resolution 20 2477 adopting the preliminary 2025 budget and setting the preliminary tax levy collectible in 25 and also setting the public input meeting for the final 2025 budget and tax levy to be held on Monday December 20 December 2nd 2024 at 700 p.m. that is all I have for this evening and I will try to answer any questions at this time if you have them thank you ma'am Nick will start with you I started the other end I need a little bit to digest need to digest Ally um I I don't know that I necessarily have any questions I I deeply appreciate all of the work that was put in by all of the Departments uh as well as your work him in order to make this um not only digestible for those of us that don't deal with Finance at this level every single day um but also something that um I I truly believe is probably the most manageable outcome um and knowing that it's you know high level with where we're at right now and it can always go down one of the hard things about what we have to do is uh understand that we can't just arbitrarily throw out like a percentage that we might feel comfortable with and then just hope that it's going to fill all of the needs that the city has and I don't know about anybody else but um my life is costing a lot more than 5% more than it did last year um and so while it's never fun to see an increase in tax um you know many things in this world are costing more than 5% more than they did a previous year and so I'm just I'm incredibly proud incredibly proud of the work that's been done to try to keep it as low as we can while still meeting the expectation for core services and the things that absolutely need to be done because we just can't pretend that they don't need to be done not a question more of a statement that's all thank you Katie uh I would Echo what she said having gone through many of these budget proposals over the years this is one of the most seamless ones that I've been part of and I think that's a testament to the staff that put this together and the collaboration that you all had to get us to this number tonight so thank you for all your work and putting this budget together Steve yeah I would also Echo the previous two comments you know it having been on the council couple different periods of time it is um you really see how well the council and the staff work together and that really cannot be understated when it comes to the budget part of it I mean starting from Lynn and the whole team um you know really you know and you Kim pointing out kind of our Council goals and you know how we look at um working together and how we want to manage the city efficiently and effectively for the community um you know as Holly and Katie pointed out a really seamless really good budget process some of the things that that the average resident wouldn't necessarily note are the fact that we have thanks to John really well organized Street Improvement plans and expenses for streets for Trails for Emerald ashbo which we really had neglected as a city for years and it's caught up with us um and thanks to the work of John and his team I mean you know all of our residents today are taking care of that I agree I mean five % um is 5% and you know you can't pretend it's not but um when you look at all the things I mentioned two CSO community service officers which are out there um serving both the general public and our school district and so many of the other components I am I am really quite happy with this year's budget and how it turned out at least at this point so thank you you've all made me feel better because I was trying to digest thinking there was something in there but the fact that you also comfortable too this why I think I feel comfortable too there's I mean it's it's been beaten into us very well like all the data behind why you guys put forward what you do and I really appreciate it it really makes it painless on my part to have to question anything you guys ask for because it's all so Justified to me I guess so great job uh Kim well put together um you know each year we ask for again as our commitment to transparency putting more and more information out there showing where they are where the dollars are what department um you know trying to list as many of the expenditures you know it put it's telling the story right and that that goes back to Lyn I mean we we changed our budget our budget process last year and it is I think every one of us sitting here will say that it has made the process a lot more efficient more transparent um and easier to understand just where where each one of the lines go because there's a lot there it it's we don't do it every day and it it can be a mess to try and read through but you know to to our team not just those that are sitting here um but everybody at Team Farmington like yall continue to make concessions and even through that list we're not out there buying flashy new stuff we're not adding to we're trying to catch up still like we we are for so long we have it other problems right and and we've we've fixed some of that and we're we're trying to work our way through to not diminish services to our residents to make sure that we have the proper equipment and the proper Staffing to make the calls to do the work um with as minimal impact to our residents as possible and I know we don't spend percentages but for the average person $66 a year we have to start delivering on things that the residents can see and we committed to that a few years ago going back three almost four years now we we're doing more projects more things that the residents can see and I can't thank you enough for your commitment to our community to the work that still needs to be done every day that pie chge said 66% of it's in salaries right nobody's getting high on the hog like they're and we've gone through this with 7 75th percentile and you know what the private Market pays and and even in police and fire I mean there's there's places that hire fire right and we're we're everybody is doing everything that they can and I hope the residents see that I hope the residents understand that this city continues to do what it can with what it has without burdening our residents um because there there has to be a threshold and I appreciate my peers and everything we've done to pres to get it to 5% and not 9 10 11 12 like some of our neighbors um and and I I feel comfortable with where we're at so I appreciate everybody's hard work and commitment to getting to this point with that we look for motion to approve resolution 2024 tax 77 adopting the preliminary 2025 budget and setting the preliminary tax levy collectible in 2025 as proposed and to set the public input meeting for the final 2025 budget and tax levy to be held on Monday December 2nd 2024 at 7 p.m. motion to approve motion by Steve second second by Holly call the role please council member Wilson yes mayor Hoy yes council member buram yes council member berett yes counc member lean yes thank you ma'am All Right Round Table Leah you'd start great judicial news this time again uh the commission on judicial selection has recommended five candidates to fill two judgeship positions that are chambered in Hastings so just a little Civic lesson um that a lot of things get processed through the courthouse in Hastings Apple Valley and West St Paul thanks thank you ma'am Nick um thank you to everybody that was uh participated in some sort of homecoming activities last week I know that's kind of school board but it was kind of exciting for everybody that was an incredible football game to be at and fun with the band Fun with everything about it so just thank you for everyone for making feel like a good community Al uh yeah some fun Community stuff um uh for those that follow anything with FHS theater the fall play and spring musical have been announced so the fall play is noises off and that'll be happening at the end of November the spring play is coming up in March and it's going to be Guys and Dolls uh and so I know many of us follow Sports um to different degrees but uh my kids happen to be choir and theater kids so I happen to follow that as much um and so if you're looking for something really great to do with the family those things are coming up uh also uh there is a group here within Farmington they actually did the haunted house at the Dakota County Fairgrounds for almost two decades um and it's the support our troops haunted us organization and this organization is part of what funds the veterans more Memorial that you see out at Rambling River Park uh and they do an annual fundraiser and since they have stopped doing the haunted house they have actually changed it to a haunted Gala which is basically a fancy word for a costume party um and it's held at the Grand of Event Center in Northfield and that's coming up on October 26th it's open for 18 plus it's a great way uh to support the troops and also if you happen to like dressing up for Halloween uh I will go head-to-head with anybody that thinks that they can beat my Halloween costuming um but no we just love to have you out there it's a great group of people that are com uh committed to and dedicated to honoring military families past and present letting them know that they've not been forgotten um helping them to um get through difficult times maybe times of transition maybe just times of extra needed support and so if you just feel like that you're you're being called uh to support that in some way obviously um I don't think they would deny any donations uh but more than that come out and have a good time and dress up and have some Halloween fun uh so that's all I have thank you Katie um I want to thank all the residents who came out and spoke tonight I do think it's very important that you advocate for yourself and and for your community and so I appreciate the respectful comments that were made here this evening and those who have also emailed us uh with their thoughts I said this to a resident last meeting we don't often hear from residents so I think that it is important when you do have something to say that your voice is heard and so thank you for sharing that with us uh whether it's over email or at some of our recent meetings um with that since I am not on the ballot I am going to call out that there is a candidate Forum coming up for both mayor and Council positions and so if you're interested in hearing a little B more about those candidates I would encourage you to look for that information it's going to be hosted by the Dakota County Regional Chamber here in the chambers thank you awesome I have no comments tonight Lynn all right I have two comments that I'd like to make um thank you for the great budget presentation Kim and it really does take a team here um I just am amazed at how well the team does work together and nobody's fighting over the funds and we do realize there's a fine balance of getting getting things done and also providing a highquality service to this resident to um the community the residents and the businesses so thank you again everybody and some exciting news um Homestead Community Church Farmington rotary and the city are working together to create the first lighted holiday parade we're very excited on last Thursday we did have a meeting open to um businesses to get some input on feedback on the parade of what we have planned so far we had about 25 different um agency show up so that was exciting but more planning to come but just wanted to throw that out there and um Christmas in the village is also that day so we're going to be working with them and making sure that we complement each other's event and we're excited to see what's what's to come thank you thank you just one thing absentee voting for The General starts Friday wow we just finished the primary September Julie I have no comments tonight right de thank you mayor and councel just one thing I would like to add um on October 8th from 10:30 to 12:30 the Emy Apartments will be doing their grand opening this is an exciting project and we've all watched this Vision come to life on the corner and the public is is welcome to come and celebrate the opening that's it thank you thank you John thank you mayor and council members uh two major Milestones uh the wearing course on the 2024 Street improvements is expected to go in on Saturday actually and uh it's SED um they're doing some minor patching uh today but they'll be ready for Workhorse later in the week and they're looking at Saturday weather permitting we're also also Distributing flyers for the 2024 Mill and overlay area we had a pre-construction meeting with mnam Contracting they plan to start that work next week so that was a little quicker than we thought so instead of mailing notices we're actually delivering flyers and um they'll be working through the project area within about a week or so including all the milling and Paving so that's great news thank you sir Kelly Open Door popup food pantry is tomorrow at the ramling river center from 3:00 to 4:30 it's going to be hot again tomorrow so I would encourage people to come towards the back end I know last month we had people starting to line up at 2:00 wrapped around the building so uh they will still have food at the end of the uh food event so if you come towards the back end you won't have to wait in that long line in this uh nice fall heat uh we now have Wi-Fi in four Parks Rambling River Park Sunny Hills Park Tamra Park and Westview I want to uh give a shout out and a huge thanks to Peter Gilbertson and Ted Novak for all all their work on getting the Wi-Fi here and putting up the cameras and testing things and getting it loaded without those uh two gentlemen's uh efforts it it would have come to fruition and they're they're out there every week working on it and uh finally after long delay to get a drinking fountain we finally have a drinking fountain installed at ramling River Park with water today and with a bottle filler so if you forget your water at home uh you have a bottle in the your car we do have H water there now so thank you thank you Kim um I already did way too much talking tonight so I have no comment Chief again Wednesday our open house September 18th 5:30 Station 2 family event um Fire Marshall hasn't told me everything that's going to happen so I'm just as going to be as surprised as what you guys are going to see so again Wednesday September 18th 5:30 our open house this is going to be the first year that you got weather in your favor in a while Just J no it's going to be it'll be warm regardless Chief uh I have no comments tonight all right uh Julie you won't make another meeting will you this is last will not you will not um been with us a few years um came in and and uh started a combined position and both human resources and the assistant City administrator and um be moving on moving and I just on behalf of everyone at the city of Farmington behalf of the council um thank you for everything that you've done for us um we had a pretty significant transition coming in and um it's not the easiest Department to work in right um but no in in all seriousness thank you for everything uh thank you for being a part of the team uh even for the short time that you've been here um it flew by quick and and we wish you nothing but the best of luck and um enjoying your travel so thank you ma'am yep uh with that we look for a motion to adjourn motion motion by Steve second second by Nick all in favor say I I I rejourn at 808 a