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City Council Minutes Page 2 <br />September 3, 2019 <br />8.1 Adopt Preliminary 2020 Tax Levy <br />Ms. Ziemer presented the staff report. <br />Mayor Dietz clarified information from the previous meeting. He asked if the issue <br />of whether or not the city should plow all of the sidewalks was resolved. <br />Councilmember Wagner recommended waiting until 2020 to decide if the council <br />wanted to add sidewalk plowing into the budget. <br />Mayor Dietz would like to get the budget to 7% which would mean cutting an <br />additional $313,000. <br />Councilmember Westgaard asked about funds for the Lake Orono dredging and <br />elections. He mentioned these are one-time costs that are affecting the budget <br />increase. <br />Mayor Dietz agreed the rest of the city should contribute toward the Lake Orono <br />dredging costs. <br />Councilmember Ovall stated the largest part of the budget was employees. Because <br />of the step increase there are at least two more years of absorbing those costs and <br />making up for past years with no raises. <br />Counciltnember Westgaard felt comfortable passing the resolution with an 8.5% <br />increase and working to find a way to cut $150,000 before the December deadline. <br />Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember <br />Wagner to adopt Resolution 19-40 authorizing the preliminary property tax <br />levy for collection in 2020 as amended. Motion carried 4-1. Mayor Dietz <br />opposed. <br />Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember <br />Westgaard to set the budget meeting for December 2, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at <br />which public comment will be taken. Motion carried 5-0. <br />Mr. Portner addressed phased retirement for the IT Manager as he has formally <br />requested a start effective November 24, 2019. A full-time IT Manager would be <br />hired to train under Mr. Pearson during this 18 -month period. Mr. Portner would <br />like direction on whether or not to accept the request. <br />Council discussed the cost, succession planning, the value of the position to <br />infrastructure safety, and the backlog of IT projects that could be resolved during the <br />18 -month transition period. <br />10tEAE1 11 <br />NATURE <br />