ELIZABETH B. KAUTZ
Mayor, City of Burnsville
Biographical Information
Elizabeth B. Kautz was elected Mayor of the City of Burnsville, Minnesota in November 1994 after serving two years on the City Council. She is currently serving her fifth term as mayor, having been overwhelmingly reelected in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2004.
Mayor Kautz began her administration with a strong emphasis on community development. Early in her first term, she organized a city wide visioning process that brought together over one thousand residents and business people to establish a shared vision and direction for Burnsville. Out of that effort came a major redevelopment plan called “Heart of the City.” What was once a depressed 54 acre site that produced only $166 thousand in property taxes is now a thriving downtown area with multiple residential options and business developments producing over $1.5 million in property taxes. It will soon be home to a 1,000 seat regional performing arts center and yield $3 million in property taxes within five years.
Strong financial management has been a hallmark of Mayor Kautz’ leadership. The City’s financial management plan, adopted in her first term, has resulted in two bond rating improvements – the first in 1997 and the second in 2001. An Infrastructure Trust Fund plan adopted in 1996 now enables the city to adopt a “pay-go” approach to infrastructure replacement – eliminating the need for bonding. The City’s debt has declined from $100 million in 1994 to $45 million today – a 55% drop. While many cities are struggling to fund road replacements, Mayor Kautz proudly reports that Burnsville has reduced its property tax rate each of the past five years even while increasing its infrastructure replacement program.
The Mayor is an active proponent of local youth. A seat is available to youth representatives on many city boards and commissions. An innovative youth center – called the GARAGE – was constructed in 1994 at an old city maintenance building. Run by its own youth board, the GARAGE is now nationally acclaimed for its music programs and its innovative events dealing with methamphetamine use and underage drinking. Over 35,000 youth attended GARAGE events last year. The Mayor also established model Best Practices programs that effectively keep alcohol and tobacco out of the hands of underage youth by increasing incentives and penalties for local vendors.
Responsible stewardship of our natural resources has been a key achievement of the Mayor’s administration. Over 300 acres of land has been placed into conservancy status during her tenure and $27 million has been allocated to a 15 year program of improving the City’s many water bodies. Rain garden projects and several other low impact development practices have become regular features of Burnsville’s landscape. Currently, a major Council effort is underway to establish comprehensive goals, objectives, and best practices for the environment that will make Burnsville a model sustainable city. A “green fleet” plan has been established that will transition city vehicles and equipment to greater energy efficiency. Lighting in municipal building was long ago replaced with low energy light bulbs while signal lights within the city are transitioning to LED lights. A methane collection facility extracts methane from the City landfill and converts it to energy that powers about 3,500 homes.
Kautz’s focus on quality-of-life concerns has led to greater emphasis on the delivery of basic services. New ordinances have improved neighborhood safety and viability. For example, a new Rental Licensing Program initiated in 2006, created a set of tools for property owners, residents, inspectors and police to use in addressing problems associated with rental housing. Remarkably, the program was developed with and supported by local rental housing managers and owners. A nationally recognized National Night Out program and a very active Neighborhood Watch program help create a supportive network for city staff and residents to work together on these kinds of issues.
Recognizing that no single city can do everything, Mayor Kautz has strongly pushed cooperation with other jurisdictions. She co-chaired a county wide effort to consolidate six separate emergency dispatch centers into a single joint powers entity in 2006. Her efforts resulted in a state of the art facility that opened its doors in late 2007 with advanced trunked radio communications technologies, shared law enforcement field systems, and a savings to Burnsville of over $1 million. Additionally, her emphasis on shared resources helped create the region’s first automatic aid agreement for fire response. This arrangement significantly reduces fire response time – thereby saving property and lives.
Mayor Kautz shepherded the Governance process to make Burnsville a digital City for the 21st century with a goal to provide all residence and businesses with access to high-speed communications technology. A strong partnership with Frontier Communication is delivering wireless internet service to the entire city. The City is served by several broadband technologies, DSL, T1 and Cable. Presently the City is laying a fiber optic network to connect all of its facilities with a goal to work in a public-private partnership to deliver 100Mb/s of up and down service throughout the City. Mayor Kautz believes that Government has a role to help build the information infrastructure for the 21st century and to allow the private sector to deliver content.
Mayor Kautz sits on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority and serves as Chairman of the Board and is also on the Suburban Transit Association board. She is consistently being called upon to speak on behalf of Transit and Transportation initiatives and funding.
Mayor Kautz is also on the Board of Trustees for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and in 2008 she was elected 2nd Vice President/Advisory Board Chair of the US Conference of Mayors and represents Burnsville on numerous local, regional, state, and national boards. She co-founded the Minnesota Regional Council of Mayors in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.
Mayor Kautz currently serves at the 68th President for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing the interests of Burnsville on a local, national and global level.
Mayor Kautz received her Masters Degree in Counseling, Psychology from the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago, Illinois. She received her undergraduate degree in Theology with a psychology focus from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mayor Kautz was one of the first women to serve as a Professional Minister within the Catholic Church, as Pastoral Minister. In 1988, she founded Growth Dynamics, Inc. with a mission to foster continuous improvement within individuals and organizations through heightened awareness of self and the human potential. Her background is in organizational development, business administration, education, training and development, pastoral care ministry, and counseling psychology. She has also served as the Executive Vice President for the Hartford Group, Inc. a real estate development corporation.
