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City Council Minutes Page 3 <br /> December 3,2012 <br /> Mayor Dietz opened the public comment portion of the meeting.There being no one to <br /> • speak,he closed the public comment portion of the meeting. <br /> Councilmember Motin asked questions regarding the amount included in the fund balance <br /> reserves and he would like to have around$200,000 allocated. <br /> Councilmember Westgaard felt the balance should be around$250,000. He stated the <br /> Council did not agree upon a specific dollar amount at previous meetings,but the consensus <br /> of the Council was to use a conscious effort to reduce the amount in fund balance over time. <br /> Councilmember Gumphrey felt it better to be more cautious and wasn't comfortable with <br /> allowing a balance over$200,000. <br /> Councilmember Zerwas asked if the city was able to lock in on a gas price for 2013. <br /> Mr. Simon stated they hadn't locked in on a price but felt comfortable the price per gallon <br /> would be around$3.25 with gas taxes included. <br /> Councilmember Zerwas agreed with Councilmember Gumphrey's comments,and felt <br /> increasing the fund balance reserve to approximately$200,000 for the next few years would <br /> allow for some recovery in the net tax capacity,with the hope of new construction <br /> increasing.This adjustment will also take into consideration the TIF district coming off-line <br /> next year.He felt this would be as smooth a transition as possible without sharp drops and <br /> increases.He stated they were levying less money than last year and significantly less than <br /> back in 2008 but still allowing for filling vacant positions and reinstating the employee cost <br /> of living increases. He commended staff for their work on the budget. <br /> • Mayor Dietz expressed his concerns with approving a budget that puts a burden on <br /> commercial and industrial properties because their property values remained constant and <br /> didn't drop like residential properties. He stated he doesn't like to see property taxes increase <br /> if the value of a home,business,or industry doesn't increase.He stated if the County is <br /> projecting a 2%increase in property values by 2014 and generating more revenue,the levy <br /> shouldn't need to be raised.He thanked the Council and staff for working hard on the <br /> budget but felt more should have been cut to ensure the city's tax rate didn't increase. <br /> Councilmember Zerwas disagreed with Mayor Dietz's way of viewing the budget. He stated <br /> if property values increase 2%by 2014,and therefore generating more revenue, that means <br /> taxpayers are paying more money for property taxes. Councilmember Zerwas felt the budget <br /> and levy should be set based upon what it takes to operate the city,not for the amount of <br /> property values. He felt it's a backwards way of budgeting for the city. <br /> Mr.Portner stated if the budget is approved with an increase in the fund balance to <br /> $200,000,it would decrease the final levy by$100,050. <br /> MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER ZERWAS AND SECONDED BY <br /> COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY TO APPROVE THE 2013 BUDGET AS <br /> PRESENTED IN THE STAFF REPORT BUT INCREASING THE FUND <br /> BALANCE AMOUNT TO$200,000,THEREBY DECREASING THE FINAL <br /> LEVY BY$100,050 TO$10,175,765.MOTION CARRIED 4-1 WITH MAYOR <br /> DIETZ OPPOSING. <br /> • <br />