TONIGHT: Plymouth Council Evaluates City Manager

Tonight the Plymouth City Council has a pretty full agenda for its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Prior to the regular meeting is a special, closed council meeting at 6 p.m. in the Medicine Lake Conference Room to conduct the city manager evaluation.

The city manager is evaluated annually and the discussion sometimes includes compensation and benefits.  City Manager Laurie Ahrens' 2011 salary was $137,824.60, which the council approved in late 2010.

The evaluation process works like this: "the mayor and city council members each complete  an evaluation form for the city manager. Those results are first discussed by the mayor and council, and then the mayor discusses the results with the city manager. At the conclusion of the evaluation process the council will summarize the results of the evaluation at its next public meeting," said Plymouth Human Resources Manager Giovanna Koné.

Ahrens has worked since 2003 as city manager. Ahrens has worked for the city more than two decades in several capacities including city manager, assistant city manger and city clerk. Before Plymouth, she worked for the cities of Mankato and North Mankato.

In 2009, Ahrens received the Leadership Award for appointed officials from the Minnesota Women in City Government.

The regular council meeting includes five presentations and an extensive consent agenda, which has items that can be approved in bulk without discussion or pulled for discussion by council and those present, one public hearing and a general business item.

The final item to be approved tonight is the proposed 2012 budget, tax levies and the 2012-2016 Capital Improvement Program.

After six budget meetings this year, the council has discussed having the same property tax levy as 2011 for 2012.

According to the city, the proposed 2012 general fund budget includes an increase in expenditures of $428,791. The proposed budget does not include new services or service level increases, but is required to maintain current service levels and debt levies. Increased costs were because of inflation, wage adjustments for contract settlements and sustainability of the city's internal service funds. The increase in expenditures was able to be offset with an increase in revenues primarily from growth in development.

The median value Plymouth home for taxes payable in 2012 is $260,300. There are several varying factors that impact residents' taxes including: changes in the state-mandated property tax relief program; wide variances in changing residential property values; a shift from declining commercial and industrial properties; the effect that fiscal disparities have on Plymouth’s tax base and how other taxing agencies like the county and school districts are shifting the tax impact on residents.

Tonight's council meetings are the last scheduled ones of 2011.