HomeMy WebLinkAbout5G Intergovernmental Aid
4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Lake, MN 55372
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: June 13, 2016
AGENDA #: 5G
PREPARED BY: Frank Boyles, City Manager
PRESENTED BY: Frank Boyles
AGENDA ITEM: Consider Approval of Local Intergovernmental Aid Agreement Between the
City of Prior Lake and Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
DISCUSSION: Introduction
The purpose of this agenda item is to request City Council approval of a Local
Government Aid Agreement with the SMSC.
History
For more than 20 years, the SMSC has made escalating annual contributions to
the City of Prior Lake. When I arrived here on March 1, 1993, the City was receiv-
ing $60,000 annually. On July 30, 1993; February 20, 1996; August 6, 2001; and
December 7, 2005, the City and SMSC entered into agreements which resulted in
contributions to the City. The four agreements cited were known as, “Police and
Fire Protection Service Agreements.”
In approximately 2008, the SMSC created its own fire department and ambulance
service. Despite the fact that a portion of the annual contribution was for “fire pro-
tection” the SMSC did not reduce the amount of their annual contribution. In fact,
for the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, the SMSC continued their contributions
to the City without an executed agreement. During that period of time, the contri-
bution became known as “local government aid.” Today they are referred to as
“Local Intergovernmental Aid” although the name is not as important as the con-
cepts behind it.
Current Circumstances
Over the years the SMSC, City of Shakopee and Scott County have developed
collaborative relationships. Accordingly, the SMSC has already entered into local
intergovernmental aid agreements with Shakopee and Scott County. The dollar
amounts differ for each.
The agreement proposed for execution is much like the agreement we executed
last time in March 2013. The essential provisions of the agreement are:
The City agrees to continue to provide police and other local government
services at a level not different than that provided to the remainder of the
community as required by case law.
The term of the agreement is two years or through December 31, 2017.
The SMSC agrees to pay the City $430,000 for 2016 and $440,000 in
2017 in quarterly installments.
The city is to report receipt of this money. We do so both in the annual
budget and in the quarterly donations report to the city council.
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Language is included addressing limitations on the City’s ability to provide
certain services promptly in some cases and the liability protections asso-
ciated therewith.
Tribal members may sue the City just as any other resident may sue the
City.
The agreement can be terminated with 30 days written notice by either
party. There is a provision for payment to the parties of the appropriate
pro-rata share based upon the date of termination.
Under the agreement, the SMSC does not waive sovereignty.
ISSUES: The SMSC has provided the City with annual contributions on time each year
since 1993 (23 years) and maybe even before that with or without an agreement.
The local government aid agreement is only a fraction of the contributions the City
has historically received from the SMSC and we are working on more all the time.
For Council information I have attached a list of cash contributions we have re-
ceived over time and the associated purpose of each.
The local intergovernmental aid payment system has not always harmonious. For
a short period of years the system was based upon cost per call. What we all dis-
covered was it was often difficult to determine why the call occurred. Was the per-
son coming to or leaving the casino or not? Were they on their way somewhere
else? The resulting monthly challenges tried our relationship, resulted in hours
invested in meetings to try to verify which calls were to be reimbursed and were
concluded to be contrary to spirit of the contribution as it is not a required payment
of a fee in lieu of taxes but instead a contribution provided to assist the city in its
ongoing funding challenges. As such the gift can be discontinued and the city has
no recourse under the law.
The Local Government Aid Agreement is really the tip of the iceberg in the rela-
tionship we have with the SMSC. The staffs of the city and SMSC, sometimes in
conjunction with other members of SCALE have accomplished and are discussing
numerous additional cooperative projects in the following areas:
Civil Defense Siren Agreement
Continued Pike Lake Park development
Provision of significant shared infrastructure on purchased land-Stemmer
Construction of joint well and planning for joint water plant
Economic development marketing-River South
Road reconstruction contribution-McKenna
Fire Department training and mutual aid-ongoing
Use of mobile command truck for community events and emergencies
Cooperative facilities and maintenance- prairie burns, trails
Use of meeting facilities-The Link and Dakotah Sport and Fitness
Funding assistance for Drug Task Force Officer
The City of Prior Lake is legally obligated to provide services to the SMSC which
are commensurate with the services provided in the rest of the City. The SMSC
does not use City services for streets, sewer, water, parks and a whole host of
other local services. Instead they provide their own. They do utilize police ser-
vices as they have elected not to create their own police department. They have
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however established a group of three conservation officers which help to augment
our efforts in limited ways. We also work cooperatively with their fire department
on a day to day mutual aid basis.
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
Financially the city has been a significant benefactor from SMSC giving. The laws
applying to the SMSC are very different from those regulating cities. The laws are
primarily forged at the federal level and so any alteration would have to occur
there. Rather than undertake such an arduous and expensive task, we have
sought over the years to build a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship from
which both the City and the SMSC and our common residents can benefit in a
wide variety of ways in the present and future. This agreement continues that phi-
losophy.
ALTERNATIVES: 1. Motion and second as part of the consent agenda to adopt a resolution ap-
proving the Local Government Aid Agreement and authorizing the Mayor and
City Manager to execute same.
2. Remove the item from the consent agenda for discussion purposes.
RECOMMENDED
MOTION:
Alternative 1.
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Contributions to the City from SMSC
$25,000 Paid for one-third of skateboard park
$25,000 Paid for half of outdoor theatre
$30,000 Paid for replacement AEDs for City Police and Fire Departments
$15,000 Jointly purchased street maintenance equipment
$30,000 Donated Employee Assistance Program services to City for ten years
$10,000 Donated Carnes Iris Infrared Detector
$450,000 Donated for field lighting at Thomas Ryan Memorial Park
$14,000,000 Constructed Dakotah Ice Center at City request
$150,000 Provided one time gift for Pike Lake Park
$26,000
$72,000
$7,426,119
To construct trail along County Road 21
To construct trail and parking lot in Pike Lake Park
In continuing local intergovernmental aid funds from 1992 through 2015