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City Council Minutes <br />November 21, 2011 <br />Page 5 <br />MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY <br />COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 11-70 SUPPORTING <br />THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TRAIL CONNECTION. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. <br />9. Other Business <br />There was no Other Business. <br />10. Council Updates <br />There were no Council Updates. <br />11. Staff Updates <br />There was no Staff Updates. <br />Council recessed at 7:38 p.m. in order to convene into worksession. <br />12.1. 2012 General Fund Budget and Tax LevQ <br />Council reconvened at 7:45 p.m. <br />Mr. Fortner and Mr. Simon presented the staff report. Mr. Fortner discussed the decreasing <br />residential property values and legislative changes impacting Elk River. Mr. Simon reviewed <br />residential and commercial tax impacts utilizing various tax rate calculations. Mr. Fortner <br />• recommended adding $150,000 to the Contingenry Fund so he would have time to evaluate <br />the city organizational structure for the 2012 Requested Positions. <br />Mayor Dietz stated he is not in favor of hiring any new staff. He stated he would be in favor <br />of hiring a patrol officer if Council met some of his suggestions fox keeping the tax rate the <br />same as the 2011 rate. He stated any increase in the tax rate shifts the tax burden to <br />commercial property owners and didn't feel the rate should be increased. He stated levels of <br />service would not be affected if the rate were to remain the same. <br />Mayor Dietz stated a building inspector should be cut with the code enforcement officer <br />hours reduced to 4 hours for code enforcement and 4 hours reallocated to building <br />inspections. <br />Adfurtmentr, for Interim Street Szr~erintendent <br />Council questioned current Street Superintendent Phil Hals role if Mr. Thompson is acting <br />as the interim superintendent and within the same pay scale. <br />There was discussion on the history of the Personnel Committee. Mr. Fortner stated the city <br />has a good Compensation and Classification Plan in place. He stated there is no longer a <br />Committee but he plans on establishing a new committee. He stated generally cities use a <br />consultant to determine the merit of compensation/classification changes but Elk River has <br />been doing this in-house. <br />Councilmember Westgaard stated he is not opposed to a pay increase for Mr. Thompson <br />• taking on additional responsibilities but he would like to review past history over the last <br />