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Trees: As you know, 2004 has been a particularly bad year for Dutch Elm Disease (DED). We <br />are anticipating that we will tag and remove at least 30 boulevard trees this year, and the number <br />on private property is probably around 50 at this point (which we don't remove, but this <br />highlights the problem we're experiencing with trees becoming infected with the disease). We <br />are already forecasting that we'll be considerably over budget in tree removals, probably in the <br />$10,000 range. In addition, we had a pretty bad wind storm earlier this spring, and it did about <br />$5,000 in damage to boulevard trees in Northome. We have never had aline-item for "storm <br />damage", so we put one in this year to better account for those expenditures. We also bumped <br />the tree trimming budget up $3,000 to cover hangers, and damage from storms and ice, since we <br />are estimating that we will also exceed that line item in the 2004 Budget. <br />These tree-related items will add $42, 000 to the budget. <br />Levy: This budget represents a flat levy the same rate we used last year. If there is an <br />increase, it would be directly attributed to the county's valuation of the property only--there will <br />be no levy increase on the part of the city through its levy. We utilized last year's numbers for <br />planning purposes, since it is too early in August to get numbers from the County (we had this <br />budget workshop a month later on September 3rd, last year). <br />I will give each of you a call on Monday morning to see if you need further information or have <br />any questions. <br />• <br />• <br />