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Councilmember Elvig pointed out the City has put $500,000 to $600,000 into roads each year so <br />the discussion is to add $900,000 by cutting "skin" from staff in the amount of $500,000, <br />resulting in a difference of only $400,000. <br />Mayor Ramsey stated the record shows the Council has not been taking money from the general <br />fund but from TIF and MSA. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated only $275,000 was taken from TIF. <br />Mayor Ramsey stated he will not support raising taxes but will support a graduated system so <br />five years from now the Council can say it did everything possible with the information it had at <br />the time. He indicated he can support something like this without needing hundreds of thousands <br />of dollars of future development to take care of it. <br />Councilmember Elvig noted residents on Andrie Street were offered a 20% assessment, or <br />maybe less than that, and it was counter petitioned. He doubted road projects would get done <br />with assessments as long as the counter petition was in place. Councilmember Elvig stated he <br />supports a franchise fee as part of the funding package and does not support staff cuts to the <br />point where a future Council finds serious deficiencies and need to build back staff levels. He <br />stated he partially agrees with Councilmember Strommen that the Council cannot rely only on <br />future growth and while the economy will come around eventually, he supports "biting part of <br />the bullet" now. He pointed out that a future Council will make changes to this plan but he <br />supported getting road funding off the ground now and a franchise fee would create an automatic <br />built -in pool of funds Currently the City is borrowing from one fund to pay another fund and <br />that can be done again or the City could bond to create a revenue stream. Councilmember Elvig <br />stated he thinks several options need to be components in the solution. <br />Councilmember Tossey clarified that the issue with Andrie Street was more with sidewalks than <br />with the road project. <br />Councilmember McGlone agreed that is correct but the road project started as an overlay and <br />became something greater, resulting in a negative with concrete curb and gutter, striping, <br />inconvenience with the project, in addition to not wanting sidewalks He stated he looked at the <br />2006 Springsted study on staffing levels, as suggested by a past Councilmember, and found the <br />study mentioned hiring a Fire Marshal, Deputy City Administrator, and other staffing, which was <br />done. He suggested everyone in the City's staffing organization was on an "upward wave" that <br />is now a downturn. Councilmember McGlone stated he supported the Council's decision to <br />subcontract building permits to assure that department is never again "in the red." He stated <br />there is no easy answer and whatever the Council comes up with, he can guarantee not all will <br />agree but he is willing to support getting something started. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated there is a problem with "fixing as we go," noting in the past <br />few months there have been discussions about the Sunwood Drive realignment and Armstrong <br />Boulevard funding scenarios but at the end, there is a funding gap and the Council does not know <br />where the needs will be. In addition, in order to get growth, the City needs to build its tax base <br />but it currently has no economic development staff and the tax base will not grow without staff <br />City Council Work Session / May 1, 2012 <br />Page 7 of 15 <br />