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c: FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES _2_ December 8, 2004 POLICY AGENDA: Mayor Gehrz said the Policy Agenda had been amended to include two additional items: Item H5: Consideration of including written petitions as an acceptable form of input on the topic of solid waste collection, and Item H6: Proposed ordinance change relating to bus bench signs. She recommended that Item H6 be continued to the January 12, 2005 Council meeting to give everyone an opportunity to study the proposed ordinance. The general consensus of the Council was agreement with her recommendation. Consideration of Resolution 2004-24 Adopting the 2005 Lev_y Council member Lamb said the Truth in Taxation Hearing was held on Monday evening and there was a lot of conversation about this. There are three or four bottom line things to understand: The levy represents a decrease from the previous year. The median home value in • Falcon Heights is the third highest in the County. With this levy Falcon Heights will have the lowest total property taxes of the 18 communities in Ramsey County. He wanted to assure the viewing audience that the City has more than adequate money in Reserves. The City is not running risks by driving Reserves down. Council member Kuettel thanked staff for their hard work. Council member Lindstrom said that Council member Lamb did a great job of outlining where we stand in Ramsey County. It is important to keep the levy low. Property tax is one of the most regressive taxes in the state. It hurts senior citizens and young people who are just starting out. It is great the City is keeping the levy where it's at and decreasing it from previous years. Council member Talbot said he is proud of what the City is doing. Some communities raised their levies; some reduced services and laid off staff. Everyone can be very proud of what is being done here. Mayor Gehrz said the City is not decreasing services. People expect the level of service they are getting and the City has no intention of decreasing services. Also, the City Council did not want to raise the property tax levy this year. RESOLUTION 2004-24 • Lamb moved approval of Resolution 2004-24 certifying a tax levy of $865,008 for 2005. The motion was unanimously approved.