09-13-00 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 13, 2000 The Administrator reported that he felt it would be possible to certify a preliminary levy of 2.5% to 3.0% at this time, but he would be reluctant to recommend a 0% net levy increase. Scalze asked why the revenue side of the budget is not increasing at the same rate as the expenditure. License fees is one area that Scalze felt the Council should address. The City Administrator pointed out previous discussion relative to liquor license fees, and Council direction was for staff to prepare a functional cost analysis. This information has not been put together at this time. LaValle pointed out that license fees are another form of taxation. Scalze pointed out that license fees are targeted taxation and are paid by the user rather than spread out over the City's property owners as a whole. The Administrator pointed out that minor cuts in the City's state aids are being proposed as well as an LGA/HACA penalty. Revenues are not keeping pace with expenses. The Administrator also pointed out the Governor's discussion on school funding, and suggested that this would impact LGA/HACA funding for cities. It was the consensus of the Council to recess the budget workshop at this point, 7:28 p.m., and resume discussions following the regular Council meeting. The workshop meeting was resumed at 8:28 p.m. The City Administrator reported that the Water and Sewer Budgets are very preliminary at this time. He noted that the 2001 Budget document includes the 201 Fund as well as the Cable TV Fund. The Administrator noted that the City's cable TV system has been experiencing audio problems and he anticipated that these would be resolved in the near future. Morelan pointed out that eliminating the CIP Budget in its entirely for next year would merely postpone CIP expenditures. The City Administrator reported that he was not comfortable eliminating the entire CIP Budget. He suggested that there were likely cuts that could be made to the General Fund so that the entire CIP Budget did not have to be eliminated. The Administrator noted that the various City departments will be meeting to develop the CIP Budget. However, the Parks & Recreation Commission has met and they have some aggressive plans for trail and park completion. He will also do additional work to identify General Fund expenses that can be reduced thus freeing up dollars for the CIP Budget.