WORKSHOP ITEM - Joe Huss, Finance Director
Title
PRELIMINARY 2021 EDA OPERATING BUDGET
Background
Workshop budget discussions to this point have covered the EDA only with respect to the proposed 2021 total levy. For this workshop, staff will present the Preliminary 2021 EDA Operating Budget for Council review. This budget reflects direction provided by the City Council in general budget discussions thus far in 2020. As with the General Fund, the goal is to provide a balanced budget for approval as the Preliminary 2021 EDA Budget at the September 21 EDA meeting, where the EDA will also be adopting its 2021 Preliminary Levy.
The EDA operating budget is mainly supported through a tax levy. Other major sources of revenue include Tax Increment Financing (TIF) administrative fees and investment earnings on EDA reserves.
The EDA is staffed with a full-time Economic Development Specialist and two Community Development staff members: a Planning and Economic Development Tech whose time is split between Community Development (70%) and the EDA (30%); and an Administrative Assistant whose time is also split between Community Development (85%) and the EDA (15%).
For 2021, staff is proposing a reduction in the appropriation for the 3M Open PGA event from $110,000 to $60,000. The reduction is available as a result of the EDA making full payment in 2020 for a tournament that wound up being a much smaller event than anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A portion of the 2020 payment will be used toward the tournament’s 2021 sponsorship. Also being proposed is a reduction in the appropriation for targeted redevelopment programs from $125,000 to $60,000. This reduction is available as the EDA has not fully utilized previous years’ appropriations for this program and there is now nearly $1 million in EDA reserves that could be utilized for these programs. Full funding for the 3M Open is scheduled to return in 2022. With the aforementioned reductions, the proposed 2021 EDA operating budget of $797,350, is a decrease of just over 18% from the 2020 Adopted Budget of $977,000.
Recommendation
Review 2021 Budget; provide direction on 2021 preliminary budget and tax levy.