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Mounds View City Council September 9, 2024 Regular Meeting Page 7 Council Member Gunn explained at this time, the Council needs to approve or deny the preliminary tax levy. She indicated the Council could then further discuss the levy between now and December. Council Member Clark supported the Council further discussing the levy in order to make additional cuts. Council Member Gunn stated she understood further discussions could be held, but noted the City ran with a lean staff which made cuts difficult. Mayor Lindstrom reported the Council could approve a 6.5% levy increase by placing $70,000 in Medtronic money into the budget, but this would mean the City was deficit spending, or another source would have to be found to cover the deficit. Council Member Meehlhause commented there was an opportunity to cut into the built in deficit that has been in place since 2008, noting this would free up funding to meet the needs of the City. He stated the City was working on a parks master plan and there were streets that still needed to be completed. He believed he heard at the worksession meeting that the majority was willing to approve a levy that would lead to a balanced budget with no deficit spending plan and that this could be adjusted between now and December if there was a difference of opinion. Mayor Lindstrom commented the 9.13% proposed tax levy increase was inclusive of debt service, the street levy and the referendum levies. He discussed how the City could drop the street levy, but noted this would lead to assessments for property owners and he did not anticipate any homeowner wanted to write a check for $8,000 when their street was redone at some point in the future. Dr. Jean Strait, 7728 Knollwood Drive, stated it was not fair to threaten assessments when considering a tax levy. She questioned where the City got $400,000 to cover the expenses for the community center exploration and garbage collection work. She indicated the City had so many residents that were living on a fixed income and she believed taxes were too high. She stated Mounds View was not Bloomington or St. Paul. She explained she wanted Mounds View to remain a great community, but she feared the City Council was bleeding its residents dry by being fiscally irresponsible by spending money on the wrong things. She urged the City to get out of deficit spending and to begin making some tough decisions when it comes to the budget. She stated if the Council were to move forward with a 9.13% tax levy, she would be knocking on doors in the community to do everything she could to get residents to speak against this tax levy. She indicated she wanted to be supportive of the Council, but the proposed tax levy was ridiculous. Council Member Meehlhause discussed how the planned deficit spending was put in place to assist the City Council with managing its budget since 2008. Brian Amundsen, 3048 Woodale Drive, reminded the Council that the Charter has limits. He noted the current limit is 9%, if four Councilmembers agree. He indicated if only three supported a 9% increase, then the levy increase would be reduced to 6.5%. He noted the Council could also get out of deficit spending by asking the voters to support a levy increase. He provided historical information on the Medtronic sale noting the amount set aside from Medtronic was to allow the