CC MINUTES 06122001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Study Session Meeting Minutes June 12, 2001 Page 3 1 Mr. Prosser stated that a common mistake in other communities regarding Financial Strategies is 2 when they take financial jumps, rather than building over time. He stated that the Council would 3 be wise to determine which outcomes they intend to achieve. 4 Mr. Prosser warned the Council not to expect to finish this process and have a perfect plan, and 5 indicated that it would take three to five years to feel comfortable with the plan. 6 Mr. Prosser stated it was the responsibility of the Council to determine the true hot topics within 7 the community, and to look at them subjectively. 8 Mr. Prosser continued by reviewing the Key Financial Strategies Process Outline, which was 9 broken down into four sessions. He informed the Council that it is a very intuitive process, 10 which is easier to describe than it is to process. 11 Mr. Prosser indicated that the mistake that the Council could make with the Financial Strategy is 12 to think that everything is contained within the binder that he had distributed to them, rather than 13 realizing that the community will provide many more issues than what is found on those pages. 14 Councilmember Horst stated that an issue for him was TIF financing for the future, particularly 05 the extensive work that may be planned for the Northwest Quadrant, and the possibility of 16 running out of money and needing public financing to bail out the project. Mr. Prosser stated 17 that was just the sort of thing that the session tonight is intended for, to bring up issues that need 18 to be addressed as part of this process. 19 Councilmember Thuesen stated that a hope of his was to establish what will be done with the 20 capital buildings, and the ways in which that will be accomplished. 21 Councilmember Horst stated it was important to him that the community becomes more 22 aesthetically appealing. Councilmember Hodson agreed, and indicated that the sidewalks were a 23 major concern. 24 Mayor Cavanaugh stated he has a concern with tax capacity and how that capacity plays out for 25 the operating expenses. He suggested that they build in a sense of capital reserve to the general 26 fund budget, rather than leave that to be determined at the end of the year. He suggested a 27 $250,000 figure for capital reserve. 28 Councilmember Sparks referred to the goals and action steps that the Council comprised earlier 29 in the year and expressed her hope that they be incorporated into the Strategy that was being 30 presented tonight. 31 Mr. Prosser highlighted the Comparative Analysis of Housing Data, Five-year Revenue �32 Summary, Five-year Expenditure Summary, and Revenues, Expenditures and Fund Balance. He 33 indicated that the important piece in all of those things is to use them as an appropriate way to 34 "pay as you go", and to learn from history and incorporate it into the future.