01/13/2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 13, 2003 APPROVED Councilmember Dahl stated she is pleased that the five-year plan is done, but she does not like some of the pieces. She stated she is not sure what should happen with the contingency fund. She stated that when Council direction was given to go to 35% and staff came back with 30% it was extremely bare bones so it was raised to 35% but when it was agreed to, the Council had not yet seen it and asked staff to return with something at 35%. She said that may have been a mistake and she is torn since she is also on the Charter Commission which requires a five year plan. She stated that to the best of her knowledge, the City has not had one. She again stated she is glad the five-year plan is done since it has taken a long time but there are things she does not agree with that are contained in the plan. She stated if it was 4.04%, because of the uncertainty and being more conservative, it would show the City is trying to "tighten their belt" before going back to the voters. Councilmember Reinert noted that increases for the City in past years have been 10% plus and this year it is a 4.04% increase which is more conservative and brings it into line. However, you have to keep in mind that there as a 16% increase in revenue. He suggested that if the Council is raising the budget, based on this plan, by 7% and there is a 16% increase in revenue, it is moving in the right direction. Councilmember Reinert stated with a City that is growing and has growing needs, the Council has to accommodate some of that growth in the infrastructure and running it. He stated that based on a 16% increase in revenue, he does not think it is out of line to consider a 7% increase which is still a bare -bones increase. He stated that an argument can be made that people are not making more than a 3% cost of living increase but he has not heard what would be acceptable below 7%. He stated it is not an "apples to apples" comparison when you try to compare a City budget to what is going on at home. Councilmember Carlson stated the five-year plan shows a 4.04% increase in revenue and the budget ended up at 4.12% so the numbers may actually be a little higher. She stated we ended up with a 4.12% increase not because we worked together to cut that amount down but because the State set the levy and the City levied all that it could. So, the State did the work for the City. Councilmember Carlson stated that she has not added onto her house for the last five years but her property value went up 11% this year so you can say there are rising property values but that does not mean the person in the home who has to pay on a higher property value has improved the house in any way, they are just getting taxed more on the same house. She stated she voted for the 4% increase at the last meeting because it is a growing City but she knows what other cities are doing to make cuts and she has been expressing concerns since the beginning. She stated she had made copies of the consumer price index and said she would make her decision based on what the State has to show when they come out with the budget projections in December. She stated that Lino Lakes has been fortunate that their funding has not been cut. She stated she voted to support the budget and respects other's votes and opinions. Councilmember Carlson stated that she expects, as a representative of the public, that they are concerned about keeping taxes down and she wants her opinion respected too. Mayor Bergeson stated he thinks one of the hallmarks of this Council is its inability to make a decision and move ahead, and this is a classic example of that. He stated the original proposal was quite a bit higher and staff was directed to reduce that. The overall increase was 35% and staff was directed to prepare a budget to that number. Mayor Bergeson stated that Finance Director Rolek and City staff did an excellent job in doing that by July 2, six months ago. He stated that the Council has brought this back time and again, staff has asked if there was more direction or another number to 5