6.1. SR 12-14-1998"ity of
River
MEMORANDUM
Item #6.1.
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor & City Council /~
Pat Klaers, City Adm~rator
December 14, 1998
Truth in Taxation Presentation
Chad McCoy is a senior at the Elk River Senior High School and is spending
some time at City Hall under an experimental "school to work" program.
John Barth and Randy Claussen are his teachers for this program. Chad is
interested in government and we are trying to provide him with a meaningful
experience regarding what municipal government is all about.
Chad sat in on the Truth in Taxation public hearing on December 7, 1998. I
have asked him to provide me with some feedback (from a general
public/audience point of view) on how the budget presentation can be more
effective. One good point mentioned in Chad's memo (attached), and also
mentioned at the meeting, is providing handouts of the Power Point slides
that we put up on the screen during the meeting. Chad's memo includes two
other points which we will incorporate into our Truth in Taxation public
hearing next year. Additionally, Chad is working with Lori to improve the
Power Point format, and, in this manner, we are obtaining a valuable work
product from him which we will use in the future.
As part of the effort to provide Chad with a well rounded government
experience, I have asked him to provide the City Council with a brief 2-3
minute update on his thoughts for improving the budget presentation. Of
course we have to keep in mind that the budget presentation may be for one
or two individuals or 30 individuals and also that at the Truth in Taxation
public hearing more people seem to be concerned about taxes rather than the
budget.
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
To
From
Date/Time
Subject
Pat Klaers
Elk River City Administrator
Chad McCoy
12/8/98 at 6:06PM
Understandable Presentations to the General Population
During the December 7th City Council meeting it was noted by a
citizen that much of the information being presented was not clearly
understandable. Although the presentation was well done many people
seemed confused or lost. including those with in the audience who did
have a more advanced understanding of economics, and much of the
information went over their heads. This resulted from three primary
problems, the speed the presentation progressed, the fact the audience
did not have the information directly in front of them, and the format of
the presentation.
There is, of course, only a limited amount of time in which these
meetings can take place, however, rather than attempting to explain
minor subjects during these meetings, additional handouts presented in a
easy to read format would greatly decrease the confusion that resulted.
With confusion minimized and peoples understanding of what's going on
would save time and therefor there would be little need to slow down.
The most likely solution is using part of the Power Point program
titled "notes pages". These notes pages could be printed out for the
citizens that attend the council meetings. Each page would automatically
include a small view of a particular screen, including the graphs and
information that was presented. Additional notes could be placed with
in the rest of the page, possibly with small explanations so that as each
citizen listens to a report they have their own copy of that information,
which explains exactly what is going on. They can then go back to that
information should they wish to raise questions or make notes.
Additionally, some form of simple packet could also be compiled in
which they could possibly read at home should they wish further
information. With this information presented more clearly, a lot of
confusion could be cleared up, and ultimately time saved.
In addition to the above the final solution is a clear presentation.
The slides them selves were not necessarily clear to the audience viewing
them. Although well laid out, they were some what hard to read. The
color of the text did not contrast the back ground as well as it could
have, and monitors become harder to read as one moves farther away
from them. With the new version of Power Point it would be possible
to use a white back ground, with a professional looking format and
design, that contrasts much better with its black text. This to may also
make a difference and allow concerned citizens to read faster and better,
and thus understand the information presented. Hopefully these
solutions will help, but above all else it is important to remember to
keep these presentations as accurate yet simple as possible.
'A historic fiver community
serv~ as a r~on~l c¢'nter with
a £avor~bl¢ location near the
Twin Gdes mctropolitm area"