Finance Committee Meeting – August 25, 2026 – Budget Kickoff & Fleet Review
Finance Committee Meeting – August 25, 2026
The Finance Committee met on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM to kick off the 2027 budget season. The meeting included a presentation on the 2026 proposed borrowing, approval of a bond resolution, renewal of the crossing guard contract, a high-level review of the 2027–2031 Community Investment Program (CIP), and a hands-on tour of fleet vehicles in the city garage. The committee made several unanimous decisions and set the next meeting for September 8, 2026.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 14, 2026 meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
- Public Comments: No members of the public addressed the committee.
Discussion Items
2026 Proposed Borrowing (Item 5A)
- Brad from Baird presented a $20,735,000 General Obligation Promissory Note issuance to support the 2026 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The borrowing includes $18,395,000 for levy-supported CIP and $2,340,000 for road improvements in TID 17 (supported by TID revenues, not tax levy). The estimated interest rate is 3.78%, up from 3.52% the previous year. The notes are expected to be priced around September 22, 2026, with funds closing on October 13, 2026. The city’s AA2 rating will help secure low interest rates.
- Committee members discussed the timing of the borrowing (delayed to use existing bond proceeds first) and the impact on the debt service levy.
Resolution Authorizing Bond Issuance (Item 5B)
- A motion was made and seconded to approve a resolution authorizing the sale of not-to-exceed $20,735,000 in General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2026A, with parameters as presented. The motion passed unanimously.
Crossing Guard Contract Renewal (Item 5C)
- Assistant Chief Ty Hoffman presented the annual renewal of the crossing guard services contract with City Management Services, covering 17 school crossing sites. The contract amount is $195,901.20, reflecting a less than 5% increase over the previous year. Hoffman noted a delay in the contract due to a mailing error but that the terms remain essentially the same.
- Alderman Rick noted that using crossing guards is substantially less expensive than using police officers and expressed support for the renewal. The motion to approve the 2027 contract passed unanimously.
2027–2031 Community Investment Program (CIP) Overview (Item 5E)
- Joe provided a high-level overview of the five-year plan. The CIP book is 337 pages. Total major capital projects across five years are $135 million, equipment replacements $17 million, and fleet replacements $27+ million. For 2027, key governmental projects include: major streets (TID-funded, ~$2M), resurfacing ($4.4M), flood mitigation on Grand Avenue ($2.1M), second phase of North/St. Paul two-way conversion ($3.8M), roof replacement at training/recycling center ($1.1M), and athletic field improvements (~$1M). Enterprise fund projects include pump station upgrades ($2M), sanitary sewer rehab, and final phase of clean water plant upgrades ($4.7M). Fleet replacements include dump trucks ($1.4M), squad cars ($0.7M), and three fixed-route buses ($1.4M, fully funded by federal/operating revenues).
- Joe emphasized that the goal is to keep the debt service levy increase under 3% annually after a spike in 2022–2023 from previous large building projects. The operating budget will be discussed in future meetings.
- Committee members were encouraged to send any questions about the CIP before the next meeting.
Fleet Show and Tell (Item 5E continued)
- The committee toured the city garage to view vehicles proposed for replacement, led by Fleet Manager John Weinkoff and department representatives.
- Police Department (Sgt. Dave Warner): Requesting replacement of 7 marked patrol squads, 2 unmarked detective squads, and 1 narcotics vehicle. Standard replacement cycle is 3 years due to high idle and wear.
- Transit (Brian Engelking): Three fixed-route buses already on order from prior year; additional MetroLift paratransit van is needed to meet rising demand for disability transport (ridership at levels not seen since 2012). The van would be 100% federally funded.
- Fleet Manager John Weinkoff: Presented details on plow trucks, loaders, backhoes, pickups, and other equipment. Notable items include:
- Pre-purchasing two plow truck chassis before 2028 emissions standards change, saving ~$15,000 per vehicle and avoiding unknown configuration issues.
- Replacing a 2016 wheel loader with a standardized Caterpillar model for better operator safety and efficiency.
- Replacing a backhoe with a wheeled excavator for increased digging depth and reduced traffic lane closures.
- Replacing several pickups and vans with newer models, often repurposing older vehicles to other departments (e.g., cemetery) before auction.
- A ventrac tractor is proposed for the parks department to handle both ballfield maintenance and steep hillside mowing, reducing contractor use.
- Other items: ambulance chassis, fire department utility vehicle, cemetery van, chipper, golf cart, ride-on blower, zero-turn mower, and a clean water plant pickup.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of the July 14, 2026 minutes.
- Unanimous passage of the resolution authorizing $20,735,000 in General Obligation Promissory Notes (Series 2026A).
- Unanimous approval of the 2027 crossing guard contract for $195,901.20.
- The committee received the 2027–2031 CIP overview and fleet tour for informational purposes; formal action on the capital budget will be taken at the next Finance Committee meeting on September 8, 2026, where amendments may be proposed.
- The operating budget review will begin in mid-September.
- No additional referrals or communications were made; the meeting adjourned from the garage.
Meeting Transcript
Very well trained. Everybody got some nicer function. All right. It is six o'clock. We'll call the Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 meeting of the finance committee to order. We have a full committee this evening. Next item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the planning. Next item on the agenda is public comment. Is there any members of the public wish to be finance committee this evening? Thanks. We'll move on to item number four aid, which is approval of minutes for the 14th of July. Any changes to those minutes during the committee? All right. Seeing none of those minutes are approved through unanimous consent. That'll move us into our business items. First of all, I want to welcome everyone to the kickoff of 2027 budget season. I want to um I see a lot of members of the council here this evening. Thank you for coming and a lot of members of this the management team and staff that pulled our show and tell together tonight. So the the run of show um for the committee is I want to remind everybody that we're always on. So we do have kind of a hot mic situation up here at the front table. Um so and as you do speak, if you just enunciate a little bit, so um Anthony and Patricia can pick us up on the camera. Uh we've got a couple of regular business items, and then we're going to wrap up with um a review of the fleet that's in the city garage, and we will adjourn the meeting from the city garage. So we will not be reconvening back in this room once we move on to 5D, which is the show and tell. So with that, uh we'll move to item number five A, which is a matter of report, and it's a presentation by our friends at Baird of the 2026 proposed borrowing to support the city capital improvement program. Frad, good evening. So this presentation is all behind you, sorry. That's where the screen is here, though. So this presentation, this agenda item is really in relation to your 2026 CIP, not the you know the 27 that you'll be talking about a little later tonight. Just by way of a timeline with your authorization tonight, this would be forwarded to the council for action on September 1st. Baird and city staff would then take steps to bring this issue to market, including the uh preparing the official statement, the offering document, uh securing a bond rating, and marketing the notes to investors nationwide. We plan to finalize interest rates on or about September 22nd, and then the funds would close and be wired to the city on October 13th. Um following the page, just by way of summary, this is uh issue size is 20 million seven hundred thirty-five thousand dollars. General obligation promissory notes. That means that the city is pledging its tax authority to support or secure the repayment of the notes. That's a very strong pledge, and that uh along with the double A2 rating of the city is gonna really drop drive interest rates down. It's gonna really lead to a low interest rate financing. Um in terms of purpose, there's really two primary purposes. First, there's the funding of your CIP, which is levy supported, and that's $18,395,000. And then there's road improvements in t in a TID at the uh TID 17, $2,734,000. $2 million $2,340,000. Excuse me. The debt service on the TID repayment supported from TID revenues, not a separate tax levy. So we're combining those two purposes together to generate the overall issue size of two 20 million seven thirty-five. And the final two maturities are callable that's eligible to be prepaid at the city's option beginning in 2033. So more than five million dollars of principal has that call feature attached. Estimated interest rate based on current market is uh 3.78%. Now the resolution that you're considering identifies certain parameters once those parameters are met, and the and the other uh material is in place, the official statement, the bond rating, then we're ready to take us to the marketplace. Summary of the parameters are on the bottom of this page. So there's a not to exceed borrowing amount, not to exceed interest rate, which is about one percent higher than the market rates.
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