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COUNCIL MINUTES DECEMBER 20, 2004 APPROVED 49 50 Councilmember Carlson stated she will not be voting for this. She noted she has voted in past years • 51 for the levy and the budget, but she feels that this year it is too high. She agreed that the tax rate is 52 the same, but the City's tax base has increased. She stated she will not vote for it because she thinks 53 they need to follow the Comprehensive Plan, of which one policy is to reduce the tax rate, and she 54 believes the Comprehensive Plan guides them toward lowering the tax rate. 55 56 Finance Director Rolek noted that the City has done well maintaining a high level of service to its 57 residents, and the tax rate has gone down slightly each year. He stated that unless things change at 58 the State level, the City probably will not reach the 20% goal, however they have been lowering the 59 tax rate. 60 61 Motion carried. Vote: 3:2 Councilmembers Carlson and Dahl opposed. 62 63 Resolution No. 04-189 can be found in the City Clerk's office. 64 65 B. Consideration of Resolution No. 04-190 Adopting the 2005 General Operating Budget 66 67 Finance Director Rolek reviewed the Staff report, indicating Staff is recommending approval. 68 69 Councilmember Stoltz moved to adopt Resolution No. 04-190 adopting the 2005 General Operating 70 Budget. Councilmember Reinert seconded the motion. 71 72 Councilmember Carlson noted she would vote no because of the increase of 19.86%. She stated she •73 looked at past years starting at 1998, and the budget has gone up each year, but this is more than she 74 is prepared to spend. 75 76 Councilmember Stoltz commented that $225,000 of the budget increase is from the COPS grant, 77 which is included in the budget, but represents monies coming into the City. He stated that while 78 some people may have higher tax bills, the increase may represent an increased value to their home. 79 He indicated the popular vote would be to decrease the tax rates by 10%, but by being fiscally 80 responsible officers of the city, the Council has to pass a responsible budget, and make sure residents 81 do not have triple digit increases a few years from now. 82 83 Councilmember Reinert agreed that 10% of the 19.86% increase is being funded by the COPS grant 84 and not the taxpayers. He stated he does not really understand the opposition since the Council has 85 had so many meetings on this, yet there have been no suggestions on specific places they could cut 86 the budget. He indicated the tax rate is decreasing, and that is the number to watch. He noted that if 87 the valuation of a home goes up, that homeowner will see an increase in taxes, but that is out of the 88 Council's control, and the Council cannot stop that from happening for a certain group of people. He 89 stated there are a lot of factors out of the Council's control, such as unfunded mandates and loss of 90 State aid, and in spite of that, Lino Lakes has kept the tax rate the same or slightly lower. He thinks it 91 is responsible to support the budget, and he does. 92 93 Councilmember Dahl noted she had reviewed the notes from last year's budget approval, where it 94 talked about having a $400,000 surplus, and taking $100,000 from that. She asked what happened to 95 the other $300,000. She also questioned why they were adding 5 '/2 staff members, even though last 096 year they added none. 2