Council exercises fiscal prudence

When members of the current Metropolitan Council took office, one of our top priorities was to prudently manage the finances of our agency and maximize the cost-effectiveness of regional investments.

Over the last seven years, our cost-saving initiatives have included:

• Holding staffing below 2003 levels despite the addition of new operating responsibilities, such as the Hiawatha and Northstar rail lines.
• Investing in new technology to improve efficiency and service delivery in a variety of areas.
• Implementing a plan to reduce the amount of clear water entering our wastewater system through inflow and infiltration (I/I).
• Undertaking initiatives to reduce energy consumption and use of nonrenewable fuels.
• Improving the financial viability of the Family Affordable Housing Program by converting to a new federal funding source.
• Taking advantage of low interest rates to refund outstanding Council bonds.
• Moving Council offices into a renovated building that will save taxpayers $14 million over the life of the structure.

Thanks to these and other initiatives, we have succeeded in holding the Council’s property tax levy flat for seven consecutive years.

Property taxes fund only about 10 percent of the Council’s operating budget – the bulk of our revenues come from user fees and state funding sources. And our levy represents a tiny fraction of the property taxes paid by homeowners and businesses.

Nonetheless, we recognize that during the last several years many families and businesses have had to make do with less. In these difficult economic times, we did not want to add to their burden.

Peter Bell

December 2009