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Mayor Ramsey noted this is helpful information and he would be curious about keeping <br />assessments at a 25% level instead of going to zero assessments. He stated he has never been an <br />advocate of completely cutting assessments because he thinks it is unrealistic unless the City <br />raises taxes. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated she is uncomfortable with pushing off road funding and hoping <br />growth comes because if it does not occur, there would be no revenue for roads. She noted the <br />Council has been debating budget cuts for a long time and if all it is going to do is stick with <br />assessments and hope growth solves it, the Council is back to where it started on this issue. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated she is uncomfortable with that as a solution and thinks it is the <br />Council's job to find a way to fund road improvements. She indicated she is not opposed to a <br />franchise fee with offset from the levy to even it out. <br />Mayor Ramsey stated he is happy with this route, versus raising taxes now, and the premise to <br />support growth of the City and a larger tax base. If growth does not come, then a future Council <br />will have to raise taxes or make budget cuts. Mayor Ramsey noted things have changed because <br />the Council has put $1 5 million into roads, which hasn't been done before. <br />Councilmember Strommen asked what the proposed level of staff cuts mean to services to <br />residents since staffing is already lean. She noted the Council has not yet had that conversation <br />or where cuts will be made. <br />Mayor Ramsey stated he believed there had to be cuts in both areas, staffing levels and services <br />to residents because the City needs to reconstruct its roads. He agreed the Council needed to <br />look at impact to service levels by reducing staff. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated the Council has not discussed that but instead is operating <br />under the assumption there is money from staff cuts. She stated she wants the Council to review <br />the list of staff cuts and hear from staff about what it means to level of service. <br />Councilmember McGlone stated he has learned a lot about trying to put together road projects <br />from being on the Public Works Committee for last 3.5 years. He stated he was not aware of this <br />mammoth problem until after he was elected and asked why road reconstruction funding cannot <br />be taken from the general tax levy since it is a core function of government, the same as police <br />and fire services. He stated maybe it is okay to have an open -ended issue for the future Council <br />to determine the final piece of the "puzzle Councilmember McGlone stated he would advocate <br />for "taking the bull by the horns" and funding roads from the tax rolls. He stated he understands <br />it would be "painful" to do it all today but he would like to see a graph to get it done someday. <br />Then, a future Council can tax for the balance or tax and institute a franchise fee. <br />Councilmember McGlone stated he wants to do something constructive and responsible to get <br />the City further down the road to solving this issue. <br />Mayor Ramsey noted with the 30/40/50 formula, if the tax levy goes down then roads do not get <br />done but the formula provides balance and does not get out of whack with too many staff and not <br />fixing roads. <br />City Council Work Session / May 1, 2012 <br />Page 5 of 15 <br />