Budget Box

experience innovation in the Park
The Budget Box is a regular feature at www.stlouispark.org that highlights creative ways that St. Louis Park stretches tax dollars to benefit the community. You can read about some of the city's cost-saving initiatives, or even send us your comments if you have a budget idea of your own.

Social media, video replacing more traditional printed publications
When the City of St. Louis Park faced a $1.8 million budget shortfall in its 2010 budget, the city council asked staff for long-term budget fixes. At the same time, the city's Information Resources Department, which consists of the city's technology, communications and support services divisions, was experimenting with emerging social media. Happy with initial results, the communications division recommended using a combination of social media, the city website, and cable TV to increase communication with residents. By doing so, the division recommended eliminating three issues annually of its newsletter, the Park Perspective.

But the savings didn't just stop with printing costs. The Information Resources Department worked with the Parks and Rec Department to combine the newsletter with the Parks and Rec Brochure that is sent three times annually. By combining the two publications, additional savings were realized in postage and production. The result is a savings of more than $50,000 annually - exactly what the Council was looking for in seeking long-term solutions.

What started as an experiment is now everyday business in St. Louis Park. Residents receive three Park and Rec Brochure/City Newsletter combinations annually, the website is updated daily with new events and news, more than 3,000 people are using the city's social media sites that are updated several times a day, and a new weekly news show has been developed (at no cost) that is played on the city's cable TV channels, shared on the website and through social media.

The city realizes that there are many different ways that people want to receive information from the city today - whether it is printed, online or over the cable TV system, and remains excited that it is able to continue to utilize all of these new and traditional tools while still saving the city tens of thousands of dollars annually.

New lighting reducing energy costs at Police Department, Municipal Service Center
Life is suddenly a little brighter inside the St. Louis Park Police Department and the Municipal Service Center (MSC) thanks to new high-efficiency, full-spectrum lights that have been installed. The lights not only use 50 percent less energy, thereby saving the city energy costs, but they also produce up to 30 percent more light.

Federal stimulus funds paid for the lighting at the Police Department, and with favorable bids and costs for that project, the city now hopes to use remaining funding to replace the hallway lighting at The Rec Center with the same type of energy-saving lights. At the MSC, the new lighting was part of a package of energy efficiencies in the renovation and remodeling project. That project too, has money left in its budget that could be used to retrofit lighting in the old vehicle bays as they need replacement.

According to the city's Vision, St. Louis Park is committed to being a leader in an environmental stewardship, and the city will increase environmental consciousness and responsibility in all areas of city business. The new lighting certainly reinforces that commitment, but also clearly demonstrates the city's commitment to long-term solutions for so-called "budget busters" like energy costs. The city won't ever have complete control over such variables as energy costs, but with improvements like the new lighting, its able to be much more responsible minimizing the effects of fluctuating costs.

Pilot sidewalk repair program saving thousands of dollars, increasing efficiencies
A new pilot program is more than doubling the number of sidewalk repairs completed by city staff annually - and saving the city tens of thousands of dollars in the process.

The program is designed to eliminate trip hazards - faults at a joint or crack in the sidewalk where the concrete pavement has shifted up or down creating a bump larger than 3/4 of an inch. Until this year, the city budgeted approximately $85,000 annually to repair such hazards (there are more than 1,100 of these hazards throughout the city). A new technique that consists of saw cutting the sidewalk panel(s) horizontally (similar to grinding) to eliminate the trip fault is used (instead of replacing the concrete). The saw cut creates a smooth beveled or ramped surface with no abrupt bump. The work is accomplished by one person using a small tractor with a concrete sawing apparatus attached to the back. During the two-week pilot project, the city hoped to repair as many as 400 trip faults at a cost of approximately $20,000.

Trip hazards are typically caused by the ground settling over the years or by tree roots growing under the sidewalk and lifting the pavement as the roots grow larger. City staff will be reviewing the spots that were fixed using the new method over the summer and fall, and will make a final recommendation on expansion of the program in spring of 2011.