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a change can affect the levy approved by the City Council. The preliminary levy will be <br />reviewed at the City Council meeting of September 11. Mr. Brama noted the proposed 2013 <br />levy is attached as well as the actual numbers from the 2010, 2011 and 2012 levy. He pointed <br />out that what has changed from 2012 to proposed 2013 is a decrease from 172,000 to 106,000 <br />which equates to a $66,000 net decrease. The chief reason is personnel — two vacated positions — <br />Deputy City Administrator and the EDA Marketing Director. The levy is divided into two <br />separate sections. The operating cost increased slightly but does not include City personnel. <br />With regard to the reduction and functions; it does not reflect a reduction in the core functions of <br />the EDA, it reflects a change in allocation of those functions, e.g. an increased role from an <br />economic development consultant and administrative staff. Mr. Brama called attention to the <br />proposed budget/levy included in the agenda. <br />Finance Director Lund stated that page 4 of the budget presentation shows that the other line <br />items, outside of personnel, have stayed constant or increased. She suggested that if an <br />Economic Development/HRA Manager were rehired, 20 percent of those personnel costs would <br />come from the EDA, 20 percent would come from TIF, and 60 percent from HRA. Ms. Lund <br />showed the levy comparison. The City -wide levy proposed for 2013 is $8 million compared to <br />$8.4 million for 2012. The HRA is at the maximum but has been reduced by $40,000 based on <br />what's happened with market value. <br />City Administrator Ulrich reported that what's driving this in terms for the City Council is the <br />tax capacity rate. It is just under 40% which has continually gone up because even if we <br />decrease it, it still goes up due to the drop in property valuations. It pushes our tax rate up so <br />there is pressure to reduce the levy. The EDA has an excess of over $200,000 that they could <br />levy and the City Council ultimately has to approve that. The pressure is to try to keep that down <br />overall. If the EDA levied additional dollars, that would go into a fund balance to provide <br />working capital for development purposes. If the EDA goes above what's proposed, it would be <br />good to target that money and give a good explanation to the City Council as to why you desire <br />to do this — such as a specific project, etc. <br />Chairperson Riley stated he wants to understand the process that brought us here. The EDA <br />gave direction in June that the EDA budget should remain the same; however, the next time we <br />see it - it's a different amount. A couple months pass and there is no budget review on our <br />agenda and now the budget review requires a quick — special meeting. He suggested that what <br />was the consensus of the EDA was never brought to the Council. <br />Mr. Ulrich stated he understood when the budget was presented in June, the main staffing <br />component was too high — new EDA personnel were included. The levy, as proposed, was <br />shifting personnel and having the HRA pay a higher percentage of these positions. It was not <br />meant to be misleading. He added he is accepting the responsibility for not bringing the budget <br />back to the EDA. The direction was to add different staffing and keep line items the same. He <br />realized this should have come back to the EDA sooner, apologized, and added he did not have a <br />good excuse for not getting this done. <br />Economic Development Authority /September 6, 2012 <br />Page 2 of 6 <br />