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Councilmember Wise stated when he moved to Ramsey in 1992 his taxes were just over $1,800. <br />He indicated he has made some improvements to his house, but his taxes are now over $4,100. <br />The property tax on his business went from $7,000 to $14,000 in 11 years. Councilmember <br />Wise stated his income is not keeping up with growth in taxes. He noted staff's budget <br />projections contain no growth, but he think there will be some growth. Councilmember Wise <br />stated he thinks citizens expect services to decrease when things are dire, as they have been, and <br />during a depressed economy. He believed some reduction in services may be necessary and <br />indicated he has not heard anyone complain about reduction in services and he has not personally <br />noticed reduction in services. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated she is not suggesting to over charge or be inefficient, but <br />saying residents are paying taxes, want a good value, and expect a certain level of service. She <br />indicated she is not in disagreement with a lot of this but is concerned about setting the right <br />targets, service levels, and ability to promote economic development. She supported the <br />suggestion to use the EDC for business retention; however, did not want the City to be in a <br />reactive mode with business recruitment. Councilmember Strommen noted Deputy <br />Administrator Nelson and Development Manager Lazan have invested a lot of time in the City's <br />economic development and she remains concerned whether the City will experience continued <br />growth and tax base if it does not have people doing that work. She commented on the <br />importance for the City to market itself with a positive image, noting it sends a different message <br />when volunteers are sent. Councilmember Strommen stated her belief that economic <br />development had to be a priority because, long term, that is what will generate the tax base <br />dollars to solve the problem of funding road projects. <br />Mayor Ramsey felt the City had been reactive to economic development, other than in The COR, <br />because that is where the City is getting leads. He noted many leads are generated through <br />avenues of existing businesses and he thinks it is more reactive. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated there is a middle ground and if a priority, the Council should <br />treat it that way. <br />City Administrator Ulrich commented on the difference between "reactive" and "responsive." <br />He explained that a lot of times people are looking for a site and staff needs to be responsive to <br />get their interest, not just reacting but also responding with a professional proposal. <br />Councilmember Tossey stated the budget presented by Finance Officer Lund is based on a worse <br />case scenario and that could be the case. He noted the former Council thought the economy <br />would grow exponentially, but it didn't. Councilmember Tossey stated he does not want to base <br />this decision on thinking the economy will get better. He agreed economic development is an <br />issue because the City does not know what will happen. In addition, Deputy Administrator <br />Nelson does a lot of economic development work in and out of The COR so he does not want to <br />get too far away from eliminating that effort. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated the difference is between "responsive" versus "proactive" and the <br />concern is that if there is not a staff position with this assigned task, no one is thinking or <br />City Council Work Session / March 20, 2012 <br />Page 8 of 12 <br />