Isantian Article

We have quite the year ahead of us. I want to first welcome our newest member to the Isanti City Council, Ross Lorinser. He was appointed to fill the remaining two years of former Council Member Duff’s term.

The City Council held its annual Goal Setting session and established the following goals:

• Complete the Long Term Financial Plan
• Increase Commercial Tax Base
• Disaster Plan
• New Personnel Policy
• City Multi Modal Transportation Plan

We have a few items to complete on the LTFP and creating a reader friendly summary to communicate to our Citizens and Taxpayers. Increasing our commercial tax base is a key to our future development as a City. The Disaster Plan is a tool that helps us operate during crisis situations of all types such as a natural disaster but also if we lose key personnel. A new personnel policy is needed to deal with the many changes Isanti has experienced in the past few years. Having the appropriate policies in place saves us time and money in the long run. The City multi-model transportation plan is intended to make sure all of our transportation issues are addressed. This includes a road frontage system on the west side of 65, park & rides, integrated transit system linking to the metro, railroad and pedestrian uses.

The other major area I wanted to touch upon is the City’s budget situation. We should all be aware of the state deficit crisis and how it has trickled its way down to Isanti. The state certified Local Government Aid (LGA) payments have been cut for 2008 and the foreseeable future. Isanti has already dealt with an $112,000 cut at the end of 2008 and the Governor’s budget cuts a further $140,075 in 2009 and $292,591 for 2010. This lost revenue coupled with over $274,620.44 in delinquent taxes and $220,069.55 in deliquent special assessments makes budgeting difficult. The Governor’s budget balanced a $4.8 billion deficit which is anticipated to grow to over $7 billion so these numbers may get worse.

When a city is told the certified LGA amount they put that number into their budget. In past years Isanti would have budgeted the certified amount into the current year and the state would have paid the full amount to the City by the end of that year. With the state failing to live up to its obligation, twice in the past 5 years, it would be a dereliction of duty if the Council continued to trust the state’s ability to fulfill its responsibility.

In response to this situation I have proposed and the Council enacted a fundamental shift in how we use LGA. I call it the LGA Flip for lack of a better term. We are flipping the LGA ahead a year. To do this we have cut spending, increased the liquor store transfer and borrowed from our ample fund reserves. The loan will be paid back on a 5 year no interest term. This allows us to use whatever amount the state finally decides to pay Isanti in 2009 for the 2010 budget. This will be cash in hand and a true number to budget with. This process will forever eliminate the devastation caused by any future unalloment. The LGA Flip gives Isanti greater control of our budgeting process.

We face difficult times but as proven by our recently attained A+ credit rating our disciplined fiscal approach is working. We have already saved roughly $130,000 by leveraging our improved credit rating. Our service level continues to rise even in these challenging times. I look forward to the grand openings of our nearly completed economic development projects, Ever Cat Fuels and Isanti Retail Meats, which will provide dozens of new good paying jobs.

There is so much more to discuss but my space is limited. I hope to continue hearing from our Citizens and Taxpayers through email, phone calls and visits during my office hours.

If you have any questions please contact me at george@georgewimmer.com ,763-444-7158 or 763-442-8749.