09-08-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 8, 2010 APPROVED 134 concern about presuming savings in health care since that area can be quite hard to pin 135 down. The mayor requested that the council consider a tax capacity of 40.9 representing 136 a tax levy of$8,510,000. Mr. Rolek explained that those figures would mean that the city 137 would have to cut $672,000 from the existing budget. A council member suggested that 138 the 40.9 figure wouldn't necessarily be prudent since reductions haven't been specifically 139 identified and the preliminary levy can always be lowered but not increased. The city 140 administrator concurred that it would make more sense to allow staff the time to present a 141 service level review so the council can make reduction decisions with that information 142 clear. 143 144 Several council members concurred that the worst case scenario is that the city will "hold 145 the line" on taxes and while they certainly intend to reach for as much reduction as 146 possible,they feel it is prudent in setting that as the preliminary levy. The mayor 147 indicated that he is not comfortable with"holding the line"with the current economy and 148 valuation situation; he would like a reduction and he proposed a 41.5 tax capacity rate 149 ($8,630,000). There were several suggestions from council members to either hold the 150 line or to reach a compromise between holding the line and the mayor's suggestion. The 151 council concurred that the preliminary levy forwarded to the council meeting will be 152 $8,660,000. 153 154 A department director suggested that it would be helpful for management staff to hear 155 about the council's service priorities for the city as they(the directors) consider what 156 options for reductions they will bring back. A council member responded that while the 157 council will have to rely somewhat on the institutional knowledge of the directors, it is 158 also important for staff to understand the council's priorities. Council members will 159 direct their individual comments on priorities to the administrator who can then share 160 information with the directors; there will be another budget work session to discuss 161 reductions. 162 163 Mr. Rolek noted that additional actions to be considered on Monday evening will be 164 setting the public hearing on the budget for December 13 and nullifying the levy for 165 2005A bonds for the Legacy project(as it will be handled through an interfund loan once 166 again). 167 168 Police Department Personnel -Administrator Karlson noted that Police Chief Strege 169 has a request standing to fill two vacant police officer positions(by moving up two 170 community service officers). The council concurred that public safety is a high priority in 171 the budget but it's difficult for the council to work on the picture in pieces; they would 172 like to consider all the 2011 budget decisions with all information on the table. Police 173 Chief Strege added that the department is working out the personnel situation to make 174 sure that the patrol functions are fully covered but there is some risk that the CSO's who 175 are POST eligible could chose to interview elsewhere and that would be a great loss to 176 the city and department. The council also received information on special assignment 177 officers. 178 4