Farmington looks for ways to plug budget hole

City hopes to rent space in City Hall, sell its senior center.

By JIM ADAMS, Star Tribune

January 22, 2012 at 4:17AM

Farmington Mayor Todd Larson stood in about 4,000 square feet of vacant space covering nearly half the second floor in the spacious, three-year-old City Hall.

"It kills me to see this empty," he said, standing near tall, sunlit windows overlooking downtown's main street.

The city is looking for someone to rent that airy space, possibly Farmington Area Schools. The space originally was intended for Dakota County Technical College, which backed out when the economy went south, Larson said.

Filling City Hall's open spaces could help new Administrator David McKnight plug a potential $367,000 hole in the city's 2013 budget. The council set up the possible shortfall last month when it approved using that amount of fiscal disparities money -- received from a metro-area tax-base-sharing agreement -- to help fund the 2012 budget.

McKnight has warned that using such uncertain, one-time funding for ongoing expenses is "a dangerous practice."

The administrator said everything is on the table as he looks for ways to fill the 2013 budget hole -- including staff cuts and a major departmental reorganization to reduce costs -- in case the fiscal disparities money disappears. The council, on a 3-2 vote, offered some help by setting aside $141,000 in the 2012 budget as a reserve fund. If not needed for an emergency, McKnight could use the reserve to reduce the 2013 budget gap to about $226,000.

Farmington schools staff met again this month with McKnight to talk about renting space, said Superintendent Jay Haugen.

"It is something we are looking at seriously," he said. "We will see if it lowers our overall costs." He said he expects a facilities review plan will be done in a month to see if consolidating offices at City Hall would enable the district to save money by closing some old buildings.

The city also has tried to use some of its spare first-floor space for an elusive license center that was shot down again last month by state officials.

The would-be license center was supposed to occupy vacant desks behind a now-shuttered window opening into City Hall's cavernous atrium. The 1,000-square-foot center opened briefly last March, but could only sell fishing and hunting licenses because the state said the city couldn't contract with a private vendor to sell vehicle or driver's licenses.

The city worked several years with area legislators to pass legislation to allow the center. But even after a law was enacted in 2010, the state motor vehicles division nixed it.

"We feel that until proper legislation is written and agreed on ... we are beating our heads against a wall until we have a willing partner in St. Paul," Larson said. Besides offering convenience, he said, the license center would have attracted people who would shop downtown.

Meanwhile, the city is studying a few other options to increase revenue. Larson said the city is close to selling its former senior center, built in 1923, that sits empty across Third Street from City Hall. He said the city is negotiating a price with an area church.

Jim Adams • 952-746-3283

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JIM ADAMS, Star Tribune