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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1973 Stillwater City NewsletterSEWER RATES SEPARATION PROJECT BUILDING PERMITS • Fall, 1973 For the first time since 1959 (when they were instituted) your sewer rates will be going up, effective with the January billing. The major reasons for the increase are (1) the payments to the Metropolitan ,Sewer Board for treatment (2) Debt Repayment on the Expansion of the Sewer Plant in 1970 and (3) and debt repayment on the bonds sold last. Spring to finance a portion of the Sewer Separation Project. Roughly,the new rates will be as follows: GALLONS CURRENT BILL PROPOSED BILL USED _,QUARTER QUARTER 10,000 $5.00 $6.00 16,000 $7.40 $9.00 20,000 $9.00 $11.00 30,000 $13.00 $16.00 40,000 $17.00 $21.00 52,000 $20.00 $27.00 80,000 $27.00 $41.00 Declining rates have been removed and the basic rate structure will be $6.00 minimum for the first 10,000 gallons and 50 per, 1,000 gallons in excess of the minimum. Your bill will continue to be based on the January -March water consumption figures. As most of you are aware, the Separation project is drawing to an end. We thank you for your patience and your understanding. If the good weather holds, we should finish all but the sod and the small repairs this fall. At any rate, the assessment hearings will not be held until next summer. Those who are to be assessed will be notifed by mail. The Building Inspection Department has noted that many people are neglecting to get uilding Permits when they are having work done to their homes or arages. State anc' Local laws require that a permit be obtained whenever work costing in excess of $250 is done. This requirement i not an attempt to make money for the City (actually most rem deling permits cost less than $10). It is pro - tecti.on for you. he Building Inspector (John Lawson) is there to make sure that your contractor does the job correctly. If you are doing the job yourself, the Building Inspector can advise you as to how to do the job properly so that your money is not wasted. 1974 BUDGET • The Council adopted the 1974 Budget last month. The 1974 Tax Levy will be $634,192.00, an increase of 8.8% over this year's levy. Because of increased growth in the City, however, the mill rate (which determines your share of the levy) will only increase about 2.5 %. The reasons for the increase are increases in salaries and greater outlays for Park development and maintenance. A complete copy of the budget is at the City Hall if you would care to look at it. FALL LEAF PICKUP Leaves, bound branches and grass (only) placed on the curb in disposable bags or boxes will be picked up in accordance with the following schedule: November 5 to Noon November 7, 1973 Noon November 7 to November 9, 1973 A detailed notice will appear in the Gazette. DOG LICENSE REMINDER North of Myrtle Street South of Myrtle Street Many of you have not renewed your dog licenses this year. The purpose of a dog license is to ensure that all dogs have periodic rabies shots and to enable identification of strays. We keep unlicensed and unclaimed dogs for only three days. A 411 411 CITY OF STILLWATER FINANCIAL STATEMENT 1972 Summer, 1973 In the belief that most people who see the Financial Statement of the City published in the newspaper don't really understand it, the Council as an experiment asked us to mail the statement and attach an explanation to it. SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS (BLUE) Column one shows the amount of money we had in each fund on January 1, 1972. The second column shows how much money we received into each fund during the year -- taxes, state aids, special assessments, licenses, permits, service charges, etc. The third column shows interfund transfers, that is, payments from and to the different funds of the City. The total of this column is always "0 ". The next column shows the amount of money available for spending in each fund in 1972. The fifth column shows what was actually spent in 1972. These expenditures were authorized by the 1972 Budget. The last column shows how much money was left in the fund at the end of the year. In case you are wondering, a "fund" is an account within the City's bookkeeping system. Each fund has a purpose and the money's in each fund can generally be spent only for that purpose. The General Fund covers the Administration, Police, Fire and Public Works functions of the City. If you have read this far, no doubt you have discovered that the Gen- eral Fund was over $100,000 in the "red" last year. The major reason for this was that the last tax settlement (about $98,000 from the County was not received until January of this year. We have to close our books on December 31. The Lily Lake Arena Fund was $29,000 in the "red ". The reason for this is that money was transferred from this fund to the Ice Arena Bond Fund of 1970 to close the latter. The Bond Fund was overdrawn to pay for unexpected improvements made necessary during the completion of the Arena. The Permanent Improvement Fund in the past was used to pay the City's share (25%) of local improvements. That policy is no longer in effect and it is anticipated that in a year or two, this Fund will be solvent. CLASSIFICATION OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS (GREEN) This is a breakdown of the summary of the blue sheet and shows a break- down by individual funds. Receipt classifications are generally self - explanatory--- Disbursements not always so: Personal Services - -Full and part time salaries. Contractual Services -- Insurance, Utilities, Subscriptions, Dues, Equipment rental and repair, etc. Commodities- -Fuel, General Supplies, Office Supplies, etc. Capital Outlay- -Large Expenditures. A detailed breakdown of these figures are available during office hours at City Hall. SEPARATION PROJECT I don't suppose there are too many of you who are not aware that the Separation Project is well under way. We regret the inconvenience many of you have had tc experience, and we really appreciate your understanding. The contractor calculates he is about two months ahead of schedule and should have the last of the ten miles of pipe in the ground by October. Street restoration will be completed this year if the weather permits. The work will not be assessed until 1974. LADDER TRUCK After 27 months of waiting our new ladder truck for the Fire Depart- ment arrived in June. The color "yellow" apparently is the latest for fire rigs and all future purchases will be yellow. The truck it replaced was 42 years old and completely unsuitable for service. UTILITY BILL ARREARS • r Any arrears shown on this billing, if not paid by October 1, will be certified along with a $5.00 minumum penalty charge on your next years taxes. BICYCLISTS Remember you are responsible for observing all moving motor vehicle laws. That means you must stop at all stop signs and you must travel on the right side of the streets. Please instruct your children as to these matters. More bikes than c rs were sold last year in this country for the first time since 1910 or so.J Motorists are asked to be especially watchful. What would be a minor 'fender - bender" if you struck another car can kill a bicyclist. WHERE DOES YOUR MONEY GO? • All of us are extremely interested in where tax dollars are spent. (when the County Financial Statement comes out, we all rush to see how much our friends who are County employees earn, right ?). It must be human nature. Municipalities do not have the same reporting requirements. We do not have to itemize in detail. But we thought the people of the City might be interested to see where the larger sums of money went in 1972. Here goes: Payroll $ 456,793 Bond Retirement 381,977 Tower Asphalt 191,836 Kamar Construction 132,413 E. Montgomery Const. 114,042 Metro Sewer Board 97,206 Stillwater Sanitation 94,541 NSP 55,953 Moelter Construction 53,025 Banister Engineering 44,561 Mc Garry - Kearney 35,335 SEWER SEPARATION PROJECT Pensions Erickson Post Burroughs Blue Cross DeLaHunt Co. Junker Sanitation Telephone T. A. Schifsky Midway Tractor Junker Landscaping Kilty -Ogren January, 1973 $ 34,818 12,738 12,451 10,090 9,339 8,695 8,296 8,201 7,181 5,373 5,352 The City was fortunate enough to receive a $657,300 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist us in the removal of the storm water from the sanitary sewer system. When the pipes were laid in the older areas of this City (1880 -1920) sewage treatment was not in use any place in the United States. Consequently, one pipe was deemed sufficient for both storm water and sanitary sewage. Today such a practice is intollerable. The old system.must be improved by creating a new and separate storm sewer system. This will remove the storm water from the system and eliminate the overloading of the Sewage Treatment Plant. Construction will begin in April or May and will be done in con- junction with the ongoing street improvement program. Total cost of the program is expected to be about 1.6 million dollars. We expect it to be completed by June of 1974. We hope inconveniences will be kept to a minimum. SEALCOATING WITH NO ASSESSMENT • The Council is well aware of how hard many of you have been hit with assessments these past few years. We are paying the penalty of forty years of neglect of the City's streets. They have made the decision to begin a regular sealcoating program this year which will be provided with no assessment. It is hoped that we can do, every street in the City once every five or six years. This program will greatly prolong the life of the new streets for which most of ypu have paid healthy sums of money. REVENUE SHARING Last session the United States Congress passed the Revenue Sharing Act which is an attempt to return some Federal Tax moneys to state and local governmerts to be spent as they see fit. According to the reports we hav received, the City will receive about $82,000 per year for five ears. The Council will b holding a public hearing on the possible uses of this money in F bruary or March. The preliminary intention is to use as much as we can for park and open space acquisitions. Watch the papers fcr the time and date. The Council would appreciate your ideas on how Nee can best use this money. Other Please take time to answer this survey. Only about 25% of you returned the survey on the use of "Fly Ash ". About 90% of those were in favor of its use, especially if we concentrate on sweeping the streets sooner this Spring (which we will do). The only way we can find out what you feel about us is if you tell us. PLEASE RETURN THIS SURVEY WITH YOUR UTILITY BILL. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CITY SERVICES? Do you feel you are getting a fair return for your tax dollar ?(Special Assessments excepted, about 29% of your property taxes went for City Services in 1972). PLEASE CHECK THE COLUMN YOU FEEL ACCURATELY DEPICTS THE QUALITY OF THE SERVICE FOR EACH DEPARTMENT. Police Protection Animal Control Parking Meter Enforcement Traffic Law Enforcement Fire Protection Street Construction Program Street Maintenance Street Cleaning Snow Plowing Sanitary Sewer Garbage Collection Park Maintenance Skating Rinks Arena Operation Winter Arena Operation - Summer Lily Lake Beach Band Concerts Library Water Department City Administration • • QUESTIONNAIRE January, 1973 EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR Are there any services which we are not now providing which you would like us to provide? Are there any serv which we are providing now which you wish we would not provide? Are there any services which we are now providing for which you think we should spend more money? Are there any services which we are now providing for which you think we should spend less money? Identify any services which the City performs which you would rather see the County or some other agency perform? Identify any services which the County or some other agency performs which you would rather see performed by the City? DO YOU THINK CITY TAXES ARE TOO HIGH, TOO LOW, OR ABOUT RIGHT? WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR BETTER SERVICES? COMMENTS: THANK YOU VERY MUCH (Sign if you wish) • Fund General and Special Revenue: General Band Civil Defense Employee Retirement . Housing and Redevelopment Library Park Sanitary Sewer Revenue Water Works Solid waste Collection Lily Lake Park Revenue Parking System Improvement or Special Assessment: Croixwood Escrow Permanent Improvement Flood Control Municipal State -Aid Construction Temporary Bond - Croixwood Sewer Separation - Construction 1973 Improvement - Construction Improvement Bond of 1971 - Construction Temporary Bond - Wildpines Revenue Sharing Debt Service: Improverm.ent Bond Account Municipal State -Aid Bond 350M Refunding Bond Parking Facility Bond Refunding Bond of 1965 Municipal Building Bond of 1966 Street Construction and Equipment Bond of 1967 Parking Revenue Bond G. 0. Sanitary Sewer Treatment Plant Bond of 1970 G. O. Ice Arena Bond of 1970 1973 Sewer Bond Trust and Agency: Police Benefit Firemen's Relief Library TOTAL * Denotes overdrawn SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS Year Ended December 31, 1973 Balance Jan. 1, 1973 Receipts $ 102,067.54* $ 736,916.15 $ 100,098.90 705.01 4,653.24 924.65 1,498.45 3,716.63 32,402.65 4,435.77 5,066.78 29,007.08 48,477.72 2,027.56 19,855.69 17,500.00 89,949.24 161,178.81 44,586.25* 82,159.79 146,575.20 2,727.01* 111,574.76 3,000.00* 29,022.16* 49,294.04 32,229.07 3,084.55* 19,026.00 17,800.00* 12,550.15 64,113.02* 3,137.00* 0.00 11,835.56* 0.00 0.00 16,122.97 12,593.11 42,332.00 968,247.98 16,944.77 10,554.70* 21,863.59 153,685.12 17,264.63 164,692.84 0.00 203,615.30 42,869.69 0.00 0.00 3.33 5,172.57 $1,664,342.24 $4,782.250.74 Transfer to and from 40,800.00 24,050.15* 110,333.42 1,324.54* 3,141.82 265,096.92 7,572.81 439,966.89 5,775.17 1,304,004.36 16,915.64* 558,435.00 47.70* 1,093.95 1,400.00 13,993.11* 87,867.87 47,500.00* 434,412.93 31,844.14 35,000.00 18,580.71* 6,583.79 11,921.60 12,214.14 25,133.23 33,011.55 35,133.75 40,332.43 10,820.56 7,886.47 10,824.48 1,410.04 13,800.00 26,229.07* 4,113.13 Total $ 734,947.51 5,358.25 2,423.10 36,119.28 9,502.55 77,484.80 39,383.25 206,541.80 228,734.99 305,847.75 52,500.95 1,858.55* 29,300.00 44,895.86 4.82 272,669.73 433,906.50 1,287,088.72 558,387.30 17,216.92 0.00 82,699.87 1,404,505.05 33,364.06 3,970.91* 33,785.19 165,899.26 42,397.86 197,704.39 13,800.00 238,749.05 56,973.05 10,820.56 11,999.60 10,827.81 6,582.61 0.00 $6,446,592.98 TOTAL Balance Disbursements Dec. 31, 1973 $ 732,378.32 $ 3,214.00 1,577.93 40,797.49 267.40 54,936.40 50,158.01 96,654.98 181,591.21 119,057.39 67,619.18 3,505.36 68,966.93 965.72 211,706.02 363,812.86 1,329,093.39 345,199.45 17,216.92 0.00 3,240.00 285,488.44 50,237.85 13,205.46 49,153.03 30,840.98 43,474.77 13,800.00 77,738.97 41,143.91 67,202,74 1,851.99 10,553.05 1,127.44 $4,377,777.59 2,569.19 2,144.25 845.17 4,678.21* 9,235.15 22,548.40 10,774.76* 109,886.82 47,143.78 13,209.64* 15,118.23* 5,363.91* 29,300.00 24,071.07* 960.90* 60,963.71 70,093.64 42,004.67* 213,187.85 0.00 0.00 79,459.87 1,119,016.61 16,873.79* 3,970.91* 20,579.73 116,746.23 11,556.88 154,229.62 0.00 161,010.08 15,829.14 56,382.18* 10,147.61 274.76 5,455.17 $2,068,815.39 Sum:aary of Balance: General Checking Accounts $ 70,552.13 Investments 1,998,263.26 $2,068,815.39 Sewer Improvement Bond of 1959 Local Improvement Bond of 1961 Improvement Bond of 1962 Improvement Bond of 1963 Parking Facility Bond of 1963 State Aid Street Bond of 1965 Refunding Bond of 1965 municipal Building Bond of 1966 Street Construction and Equipment Bond of 1967 Improvement Bond of 1968 Parking Revenue Bond of 1969 Improvement Bond of 1969 General Obligation Sanitary Sewer Treatment Plant Bond of 1970 General Obligation Ice Arena Bond of 1970 Improvement Bond of 1970 Improvement Bond of 1971 State -Aid Street Bond of 1971 Improvement Bonds, 1972 - Series A Improvement Bonds, 1972 - Series B General Obligation Sewer Revenue • Bonds of 1973 Improvement Bonds of 1973 Temporary Improvement Bonds of 1973, Series A Temporary Improvement Bonds of 1973, Series B STATEMENT OF BONDED INDEBTEDNESS Year Ended December 31, 1973 Outstanding Outstanding Jan. 1, 1973 $ 315,000.00 60,000.00 15,000.00 20,000.00 100,000.00 130,000.00 290,000.00 44U,000.UU 225,000.00 165,000.00 104,000.00 295,000.00 655,000.00 455,000.00 315,000.00 690,000.00 240,000.00 140,000.00 140,000.00 Issued Payments Dec. 31, 1973 $ 615,000.00 1,065,000.00 110,000.00 320,000.00 $ 35,000.00 $ 280,000.00 10,000.00 50,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 90,000.00 20,000.00 110,000.00 40,000.00. 250,000.00 15,000.UU 4Lb,000.UU 35,000.00 30,000.00 8,000.00 55,000.00 190,000.00 135,000.00 96,000.00 240,000.00 35,000.00 620,000.00 15,000.00 35,000.00 20,000.00 15,000.00 440,000.00 280,000.00 670,000.00 225,000.00 140,000.00 140,000.00 45,000.00 570,000.00 1,065,000.00 110,000.00 320,000.00 TOTALS $4,794,000.00 $2,110,000.00 $ 438,000.00 $6,466,000.00 • CP7 .i' :YD ESCROW FUND Receipts: . Special assessments $ 40,800.00 PERMANENT IMt ROVE:!E::. rasp. Receipts: .General.property taxes' Special assessments Sale of bonds Other revenue Disbursements: Contractual services Special projects FLOOD CONTROL FUND Receipts: General property taxes Disbursements: Contractual services P !�: :ICIPA: STATE -AID CONSTRUCTION FUND Receipts: Special assessments Sale of bor.Js Revenue from State -Aid Disbursements: Consultants blisiing Contractual services TEMPORARY BO::D- CROIXWOOD FUND Receipts: Reimbursement Sale of bonds Disbursements: Contractual services SE ER SEPARATION CONSTRUCTION FUND Receipts: Revenue from use of money Federal Aid Sale of bonds Reimbursement Disbursements: Consultants ?.z1isting Contractual services_ 1973 IMPROVEMENT CONSTRUCTION FUND 42,371.57 5,615.91 48,867.00 13,478.94 34,971.62 33,995.31 3,141.82 Receipts: 953.12 Revenue from other agencies 12.60 Revenue from use of money 3,498.68 82,980.00 178,618.24 28,059.63 169.38 183,477.01 13,606.89 426,360.00 363,812.86 4,983.33 330,461.75 968,294.00 265.28 160,709.68 325.66 1,168,058.05 Receipts: Sale of bonds 558,435.00 1973 IMPROVEMENT CONSTRUCTION FUND - cont. Disbursements: Consultants Publishing Contractual services IMPROVEMENT BOND.OF- -1971'CONSTRUCTION FUND - Disbursements: Consultants 75.00 Publishing 55.80 Contractual services 17,006.12 TEMPORARY BOND- WILDPINES FUND Receipts: Miscellaneous 1,400.00 REVENUE SHARING FUND Disbursements: Publications Capital outlay • IMPROVEMENT BOND ACCOUNT FUND Receipts: General property taxes 6,399.25 Special assessments 363,723.79 • Revenue from use of money 34,289.89 Disbursements: Debt service 285,488.44 MUNICIPAL STATE -AID BOND FUND 350M REFUNDING BOND FUND Receipts: General property taxes Special assessments PARKING FACILITY BOND FUND Receipts: General property taxes - Special assessments Revenue from use of money Disbursements: Debt service -3- 53,078.83 307.33 291,813.29 86,208.00 1,659.87 165.00 3,075.00 Receipts: Revenue from other agencies 35,000..00 Disbursements: Debt service 50,237.85 5,965.26 618.53 4,804.21 6,311.84 805.55 13,205.46 REFUNDING BOND OF 1965 FUND Receipts: General property taxes $ 88.41 Special assessments 5,597.75 Revenue from use of money 6,527.98 Disbursements Debt service 49,153.03 MUNICIPAL BUILDING BOND OF 1966 FUND Receipts: General property taxes 25,133.23 Disbursements: Debt service 30,840.98 S':REET CO':STRUCTION & EQUIPMENT BOND OF 1967 FUND Receipts: General property taxes Special assessments Revenue from use of money Disbursements: Debt :.ervice 43,474.77 PA.RKI_:G REVENUE BOND FUND Disbursements: Debt Service 13,800.00 G.O.SA` :ITARY SEWER TREATMENT PLANT BOND OF 1970 FUND Receipts: Revenue from use of money Revenue from other agencieg Disbursements: Debt service Other - manual G.O.ICE ARENA BOND OF 1970 FUND Receipts: General property taxes Disbursements: Debt service 1973 S W R BOND FUND Receipts: Revenue from use of money Disbursements: Debt service -4- 20,459.24 7,350.95 5,201.39 5,233.75 29,900.00 72,788.75 4,950.22 40,332.43 41, 143.91 10,820.56 67,202.74 POLICE BENEFIT FUND Receipts: Revenue from other agencies Disbursements: Services and charges Capital outlay School FIREMEN'S RELIEF FUND Receipts: General property taxes Revenue from other agencies Disbursements: Trust and agency remittance LIBRARY TRUST FUNDS Receipts: Revenue from use of money Revenue from other agencies Disbursements: Capital outlay -4- 7,886.47 164.30 1,651.20 36.49 594.60 10,229.88 10,553.05 410.04 1,000.00 1,127.44 SURVEY RESULTS • • Spring 1973 Again only about 20 to 25% returned the Attitude Survey we sent out in January. There was no time to tabulate all returns but an analysis of about 200 showed the following: Residents were apparently well satisfied with Police, Fire, Garbage Collection, Band Concerts, the Library and the Water Board. Animal Control and Snow Plowing took the worst criticism. We recognize the problems there. Two points of clarification. • The City does not have a dog leash law. The Ordinance only requires that dogs be under the control of their owners. This does create problems. But over 40 dogs have been disposed of so far in 1973. In addition, the pound fee is now $25.00. The strange thing from our point of view is that our license records show that there are only four (4) unspayed female dogs in town. Obviously that is not an accurate figure. We are considering measures to get people to accurately license their animals in this regard. We feel that we are doing as good a job as possible given the existing ordinance. During the problem season, Bob Conley of the Police Department spends full time on animal complaints. If you would like to see a stricter ordinance, let the Council know. With respect to snow plowing, the complaints most common were slowness and the plowing in of driveways. We hope you understand that everyone can't be first. The crews generally start at 2 :00 A. M. after a snowfall. If the snow is light, all streets can be cleared.by 7:00. But if it continues to snow after then (as it often does) then there is no way we can have all the streets cleared at_ once. Hopefully we can get a fourth truck next year to help alleviate the problem. There are only two ways to avoid plowing in driveways - one, to plow the snow to the middle of the street (our streets generally aren't wide enough) and, two, to follow behind the plow with another piece of equipment. That takes time and costs money which we feel we cannot afford to spend at present. Spring 1973 YOUR LIBRARY 2. The Stillwater Library, founded in an upstairs room downtown in 1859, is one of the oldest in the State. It was established so that the City could qualify as a depository for government books and pamphlets. Even the City Jail was used at one point for such storage. Out of this grew a circulating library established by such people as • Mrs. Charles Hempstead, Mrs. W. G. Bronson and Mrs. William McClere. Memberships were fifty cents for women and one dollar for men. Out of these efforts came a gift from Andrew Carnegie of $27,500 in 1904 to construct a permanent home for the library. The City pledged $2,750 a year to support it. Because of its design, representative of the first decades of the twen- tieth century, the original building has been designated as historically • significant by members of both the Minneapolis Chapter Preservation Committee and the Society of Architectural Historians. It has also been included and recommended for documentation in the National Register of Historic Buildings•in America. During 1972 - 7.3 two equal and symmetrical additions have been completed, to the north and the south of the existing building, as a solution to the problem of increasing the size of the Library to accommodate its growth and changing function in the community. The new additions which more than double the original space were made possible by a gift from the Margaret Rivers Foundation, a philanthropic organization set up by Robert Slaughter in memory of his mother. The Margaret Rivers Foundation Trustees are: Karl Neumeier, William Klapp, and Winston Sandeen. Currently, the Library has over 38,000 books and 800 records and subscribes to 12 newspapers and 174 periodicals. Circulation last year was over 60,000. Members of_the Library Board are: Helen Lawson (Chairman), Geraldine Granquist, Ruby Klapp, Susan Kolliner, Florence Kraemer, Susan Krog, Alice LaVine, Rosella Nelson, Katharine Van Meier and Roger Peterson. - The Librarian is Vera Maunsell.