Goal Setting

Goal setting starts the 22nd and raps up the 29th. I will be holding no office hours these two Mondays.

All Council members will be presenting projects, reforms and ideas for the future of Isanti. The process will create a list that is agreed to by a majority of the Council.

I am taking the approach of presenting projects and reforms that will match the time and growth span of our Comprehensive Plan. The Comp Plan is intended to be viable up to a population of 15,000. We need to plan for each level of growth and each level of service. The major infrastructure projects such as a water treatment plant needs to be planned for today even if its construction may be 5 or ten years in the future. Each of the projects will be folded into the Long Term Financial Planning process.

The Council will also be given a brief overview of the city's financial condition. I have been constantly talking about the difficult situation Isanti is in because of past excessive spending. I believe this will be driven home on Monday. 18% of Isanti's current budget is making debt payments. The current debt load does not reflect all current liabilities yet. We could expect 3% to 8% more of our total budget going to current debt obligations when all the numbers are finalized.

If more projects are added that will increase our debt load only two options are available to pay for it---raise taxes or cut spending.....I will fight any attempt to raise taxes. The goal setting sessions will hopefully start the process of the Council making the hard decisions for our future.

I intend to focus on reforms and projects that will aggressively boost our commercial development. A healthy community has a strong commercial base. Commercial properties pay higher property taxes and often need fewer services. This allows a City to have lower over all property taxes and yet supply needed services.

The second group of my proposed projects will focus on infrastructure needs at each level of future growth. This will allow us to plan and start reserving funds for such items as future sewer plant expansion, new wells and Police and Public Work capital equipment. Only through Long Term Financial Planning can we accomplish our long range goals at the lowest possible cost.

If you have any reforms or projects you would like to be coonsidered please let me know. george@georgewimmer.com or calling 763-444-7158